The Field Museum

The Field Museum is another one of the museums in Museum Campus, it’s located at 1400 South Lake Shore Drive. The Field Museum grew out of the World’s Fair and opened in 1893. It is considered one of the largest natural history museums in the world. Visitors entering through the North Entrance are greeted by Sue, the largest most complete T.Rex ever found. DSCN5901

The Museum houses permanent exhibits on ancient Egypt, Africa, the Pacific, dinosaurs, conservation, ancient Americas, the Tsavo Lions, a fossil prep lab, a DNA discovery center, and halls of gems, birds, and jade.  They also house special and traveling exhibits. One of the current exhibits I went to is on Vodou, the Sacred Powers of Haiti.

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The Vodou exhibit is extra and ticketed. It is at the Field Museum until April 26, 2015.  The exhibit is on the Haitian religion of Vodou and teaches about the underground history, dispels Hollywood myths and stereotypes, and introduces visitors to the Lwa (spirits). Upon entering the exhibit you instantly step into a different space, it’s warmer then the rest of the museum and humid, for what I can assume is the preservation of the items on display and drums play from speakers. There are two rooms, the first is a semi spaced out with less items then the other room with a timeline along the left wall. The timeline starts with the indigenous people of Haiti, the Taíno, whom after Europeans landed on Haiti were nearly wiped out. After that, in order to replace the indigenous people who had been working for them on plantations the Europeans brought millions over from Africa as slaves. In 1791 the slaves rose up  after a Vodou ceremony and a call to arms from a Vodou priest. Eventually they freed themselves and gained independence in 1804.

Very few items are behind glass in the exhibit but you still can’t touch them. There are a few video’s going on loop about different ceremonies and rituals. There are a few human skulls incorporated into the items on display and warnings of partial nudity on the boxes holding the tv’s for videos. The exhibit has a lot to look at and read in the second room. On the way out are several large mirrors and a room with glass windows that look into a workroom of a Vodou secret society before the exhibit exits out into a gift shop.

The Field Museum itself is rather large with 3 different levels full of exhibits open from 9am-5pm every day except for December 25th.

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