Living Cultures
The Living Cultures gallery shows a cross-section of the 20,000 objects in the anthropology collection at The Manchester Museum.
In the 'Masks and Carvings' display look for ibeji figures and gelede masks from the Yoruba people of Southern Nigeria. See if you can find the amazing power figures from the Kongo people of Cabinda (Angola) and the helmet masks from the Sande women's association of the Mende people in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The rare carved palm fern root from Vanuatu in the South Pacific, is said to hold the spirits of the ancestors.
In the 'Cloth and Clothing' display there are large barkcloths, mainly from 20th century Fiji and early 19th century deerskin leggings, war shirts and dresses from the native North American Great Plains.
The 'Out of Clay' display shows dozens of ceramics from ancient Peru and central America next to pots from 19th and 20th century ceramic vessels from all over Africa. Beautifully designed pieces from China and Japan dating from the 17th to 20th centuries can be seen alongside work from European potters of the late 20th century, such as Bernard Leach and Katherine Heydell-Bouverie.
The 'Arms and Armour' display shows gruesome clubs, guns, shields and daggers from all round the world. Two Japanese Samurai suits of armour are accompanied by a range of beautiful swords that show the amazing skill and craftsmanship of the 19th and 20th century armourers of Japan.
Get a close encounter with objects in the 'Peoples of the World' room in the Discovery Centre. The displays and pull-out drawers beneath, contain objects from Aboriginal Australian bark paintings to Inuit sealskin clothing and hunting equipment.
The Archery Display
The archery display starts with a question: How do you shoot an arrow with a fish? The answer is to use fish swim bladders to make the glue to make the bow. A film clip shows the making of a Turkish bow, with a Scythian bow, and three Indian arrows on display.
See what you can find in the Discovery Centre where one can open six archery drawers. The drawers contain amazing objects such as medals, crossbows, arrows and arrowheads. Ten bows are can be seen, of which four are from England.
The main archery display is on the first floor. Ingo and Erna Simon's introduction begins the three main themes: Bows and Arrows, Longbows and Crossbows. Bows and arrows from around the world are on display with other archery objects.
The Longbows case shows a longbow and an arrow from the famous ship the 'Mary Rose', a court dress uniform of the King George V's body guard and an archery world champion trophy won by Erna Simon in 1937.
The crossbow case shows various crossbows, loading levers and bolts. Touch-screen displays show films on the crossbow, arrowheads, the Turkish bow and the longbow. Also on display are a compound bow and a target face signed by the British competitors at the 1961 world target archery championships in Norway.
