PRODUCER SAYS IT, STILL LOOKS GREEK TO ME.
TODAY ON ILLINOIS ADVENTURE, WE WILL VISIT A GERMAN SETTLEMENT
THAT HAS RETAINED ITS CHARACTER,
FOLLOW THE HUMAN JOURNEY ACROSS
TIME AND THE CONTINENTS, TEE OFF
AT A COURSE THAT MEANDERS
THROUGH IMPRESSIVE LANDSCAPE,
PLUS R, DISCOVER SOME OF THIS
STATE'S HISTORICAL ROUTES.
ALL THIS ON ILLINOIS ADVENTURE.
>>> THEY ARE EVIDENCE OF MANKIND'S JOURNEY ACROSS TIME
AND CONTINENTS.
AND CONTINENTS. THEY ARE ALSO DIFFERENT CULTURAL
APPROACHES TO THE SAME
QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS OF MEETING
BASIC NEEDS, COMMUNICATION,
PRESERVING HISTORY, AND OF THE
AFTER-LIFE.
AFTER-LIFE. HELLO, I AM JIM WILHELM.
SURROUNDING ME ARE THE GALLERIES
HOUSING JUST PART OF THE MASSIVE
COLLECTION OF THE SPURLOCK
MUSEUM LOCATED ON THE CAMPUS OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS IN
URBANA, IT IS A FACILITY WHICH
TRACES ITS ROOTS BACK TO THE
LATE 1800'S.
LATE 1800'S. IN 1874, IN ORDER TO EXPOSE
STUDENTS TO FAMOUS WORKS OF ART,
THE UNIVERSITY'S FIRST
PRESIDENT, JOHN MILTON GERGORY,
COMMISSIONED PLASTER CASTS OF
HUNDREDS OF EUROPEAN WORKS.
THOSE PIECES EVENTUALLY BECAME
THE NUCLEUS OF A SMALL CAMPUS
ART GALLERY.
ART GALLERY. WHILE SOME OF THOSE CASTS ARE ON
DISPLAY HERE, THIS FACILITY IS
MUCH BROADER IN SCOPE THAN THE
OLD FINE ARTS MUSEUM.
TODAY, VISITORS TO THE SPURLOCK
MUSEUM ARE OFFERED GLIMPSES OF
CULTURES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE.
FOR EXAMPLE, THIS GALLERY HOLDS
ARTIFACTS REPRESENTING SOCIETIES
FROM ASIA WHICH INCLUDES THE
OCEANIA AREA.
OCEANIA AREA. ONE IMPOSING PIECE IS THIS MASK
FROM NEW GUINEA, FAMILIES
MEMBERS ARE ACCESSIBLE FROM THE
LIVING IS THE BELIEF.
FROM BALI IN INDONESIA COMES
THIS MASK IT DEMONSTRATES HOW
THE SPIRITUAL WORLD IS THOUGHT
TO INFLUENCE EVERY DAY LIFE.
IT WAS PART OF A RELIGIOUS
CEREMONY DE SIGN TODAY PROTECT
THE VILLAGES BY DRIVING OUT EVIL
FORCES.
FORCES. AT THE EAST ASIAN AREA STANDS
TWO LIFE SIZE REPLICAS OF
TERRA-COTTA SOLDIERS DISCOVERED
AT THE TOMB OF THE CHINA'S FIRST
EMPEROR.
EMPEROR. THEY HAVE OVER 6,000 OF THESE
WARRIORS AND YET TO BE FULLY
UNCOVERED.
UNCOVERED. IN ADDITION TO EXAMINING
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, THESE LOOK AT
FAMILY LIFE, TECHNOLOGY,
EDUCATION, TRADE.
EDUCATION, TRADE. SPEAKING OF WHICH, DID YOU KNOW
THAT PRINTED PAPER MONEY
ORIGINATED IN CHINA?
IN THE TRADE SECTION, SEVERAL
CHINESE COINS ARE ON DISPLAY.
THERE ARE SOME WITH SQUARE HOLES
IN THE CENTER SO THEY COULD BE
STRUNG TOGETHER FOR EASIER
HANDLING AND FOR A TIME, TEA WAS
SO VALUABLE THAT DRIED LEAVES
WERE MOLDED INTO BRICKS AS USED
AS MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE.
FROM JAPAN COMES THIS WEDDING
KIMONO FROM THE THAISHO PERIOD.
IT WAS FOR A LADY BY THE
EVIDENCE OF TWO, ONE BIRD
DENOTES PRIVILEGED CLASS.
HAND EMBROIDERED THIS IS FOR
FAMILY CRESTS.
FAMILY CRESTS. THE NUMBER OF CRESTS INDICATES
HOW FORMAL THE GOWN WAS. THREE
WOULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED SEMI
FORMAL.
WELCOME BACK TO THE SPURLOCK MUSEUM LOCATED ON THE CAMPUS OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS IN
URBANA.
URBANA. THIS IS A GALLERY OF ANCIENT
MEDITERRANEAN CULTURE WHERE
SEVERAL OF THE CASTS WHICH WERE
FIRST DISPLAYED IN 1874 CAN BE
SEEN.
THIS ONE IS OF THE TROJAN BRIEF THE LAOCOON AND HIS SONS.
THE STORY IS LAOCOON, THE GREEK
GOD POSEIDON SENT A SERPENT TO
KILL THE GOD AND HIS FAMILY.
CREATING CASTS FROM WORKS OF ART
WAS COMMON PRACTICE IN THE LATE
1800'S.
1800'S. BUT AS TRAVEL BECAME MORE
COMMON, MANY MUSEUMS NO LONGER
SAW THE NEED FOR ORIGINAL ART
AND THEY DESTROYED THOSE CASTS.
THAT MADE THE FEW REMAINING
CASTS VALUABLE RECORDS OF PAST
RESTORATIONS OR ALTERATIONS.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN THIS PIECE WAS
FOUND DURING THE RENAISSANCE
ERA, THREE ARMS WERE MISSING,
AND THEY WERE RESTORED AT THAT
TIME.
TIME. SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATIONS
SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATIONS REVEALED THAT THE RESTORATION OF
THE THREE ARMS WAS INACCURATE,
AND THEY WERE REMOVED FROM THE
ORIGINAL.
ORIGINAL. SO THIS BECOMES A 3-D RECORD OF
HOW THIS STATUE APPEARED TO MANY
GENERATIONS.
GENERATIONS. P
BUT THE MOST POIGNANT EXAMPLES ARE THE PANELS CAST FOR MOLDS
MADE IN THE 1780'S OF THE FREESS
MOTIF, FROM THE WAS ANCIENT
PARTHENON.
PARTHENON. WHAT MAKES THESE CASTS
INTERESTING TO SCHOLARS IS THERE
ARE DETAILS ON THEM WHICH NO
LONGER EXISTS ON THE ORIGINAL.
IN 1795 WAR DESTROYED SEVERAL
SECTIONS OF THE FAMED BUILDING,
AND IN THE YEAR SINCE, WEATHER
AND ACID RAIN HAVE TAKEN ITS
TOLL.
TOLL. WHILE HISTORIANS HAVE DEBATED
THE SUBJECT MATTER FOR
GENERATIONS, MOST AGREE THE
FREES DEPICTS A CELEBRATION OF
CELEBRATION OF GOD HE IS
ATHENA'S BIRTHDAY.
ATHENA'S BIRTHDAY. THE STATUE OF ATHENA IS HOUSED
IN GOLD.
IN GOLD. EXAMPLES OF POT TRI FOUND IN
BURIAL CHAMBERS TO THOSE USED IN
SPECIAL EVENTS, SUCH AS VASES TO
BE PRESENTED TO THE WINNERS AT
THE PANATHENAIC GAMES HELD IN
HONOR OF ATHENA.
TYPICALLY, THESE PIECES FEATURED
A LIKENESS OF ATHENA, AND ALSO A
DEPICTION OF AN EVENT.
IN THIS CASE, A FOOT RACE.
THESE VASES WERE DESIGNED TO
HOLD THE PRIZE FOR THE WINNERS,
OLIVE OIL, A VALUABLE COMMODITY
BACK THEN.
THIS IS THE GAL RY OF MIDDLE EASTERN CULTURE WHICH INCLUDES A
MESOPOTAMIAN SOCIETY WHOSE
BUREAUCRATIC CLAY RECORDS ARE A
SCHOLAR'S DELIGHT!
SCHOLAR'S DELIGHT! HISTORIANS HAVE UNEARTHED OVER
HALF A MILLION CLAY TABLETS WITH
A FORM OF WRITING ON THEM KNOWN
AS CUNEA, THESE TABLETS RECORDED
EVERYTHING FROM BUSINESS, TO
RELIGIOUS.
RELIGIOUS. THESE LIST THE NUMBER OF WOMEN
THAT WORK AT A WITH WOMEN, WAGES
PAID IN BARLEY ARC P NAMES
SUPERVISORS.
SUPERVISORS. THIS TABLET IS AN ACCOUNTING OF
THE DAILY OFFERINGS GIVEN BY THE
KING TO ONE TEMPLE.
BUT CUNEFORM IS ONLY ONE TYPE OF
WRITING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST ON
DISPLAY.
DISPLAY. ONE OF THE GREATEST
ARCHEOLOGICAL DISPLACE WHERE
THOUSANDS OF PAPYRI WAS THROWN
AWAY.
AWAY. AMONG THE TEXTS, POEMS AND
PLAYS, THEY DISCOVERED THIS
SMALL FRAGMENT.
SMALL FRAGMENT. IT IS THE EARLIEST EXAMPLE OF
SCRIPT FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT
AND COMES FROM THE BOOK OF
JAMES.
JAMES. ALSO IN THIS GALLERY IS THE
EGYPTIAN SECTION WHICH EXAMINES
THAT SOCIETY'S BELIEFS IN THE
AFTER LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF THE
BURIAL CHAMBERS N ADDITION, THE
MUSEUM HAS ON INT, THE MUM RY OF
A PREADOLESCENT.
A PREADOLESCENT. SOME MUMMIFIED PERSONS LIKE THIS
ONE HAD THEIR HEADS COVERED BY A
BURIAL MASK MADE OF CARTONAGE,
IT WAS A MATERIAL SIMILAR TO
PAPER MACHE AND MOLDED AND
PAINTED TO RESEMBLE THE DECEASED
PERSON.
PERSON. AT THAT TIME MUMMIFICATION WAS
THOUGHT TO BE NECESSARY SO THERE
COULD BE A BODY FOR THE LIFE
AFTER DEATH.
AFTER DEATH. UNFORTUNATELY, MANY OF THEM WERE
UNEARTHED THIS LATER PERIODS,
NOT ONLY FOR SCIENTIFIC STUDIES,
BUT TO BE GROUND INTO POWDER FOR
MEDICINES.
WE ARE NOW IN THE GALLERY THAT EXPLORES THE INDIAN CULTURES OF
BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA.
FOR THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF
THE AMERICAS, AS WITH OTHER
CULTURES, UNDERSTANDING THE
PRESENT AND THE FUTURE MEANT
REMEMBERING THE PAST.
TRADITIONALLY THAT INFORMATION
WAS HANDED DOWN ORALLY OR
DEPICTED GRAPHICALLY ON THE
DECORATIONS OF EVERY DAY ITEMS.
ON THIS HIDE IS A DIAGRAM OF THE
BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN DRAWN
BY CHIEF ONE BULL WHO
PARTICIPATED IN THE FIGHT.
HERE THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN
CROWD TOGETHER AS CHIEF ONE
BULL, WHITE BULL, AND GOOD BEAR
RIDE WITH WAR CLUBS RAISED TO
MEET MAJOR RENO.
ANOTHER HIGHLY PRIZED ITEM THAT
WOULD HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN
THROUGH GENERATIONS IS THIS BEAR
CLAW NECKLACE.
CLAW NECKLACE. THERE WERE ONLY TWO WAYS TO OWN
ONE OF OF THESE, EITHER KILL THE
BEAR AND MAKE ONE OR KILL THE
WARRIOR HAD WHO WAS WEARING ONE.
SO WHAT BEGAN AS A STUDY IN
CLASSICAL ART HAS GROWN INTO A
MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE WITH
PRESENTATIONS IN FIVE FEATURED
GAL RIS.
GAL RIS. AS UNFAMILIAR AS SOME OF THESE
ARTIFACTS MAY APPEAR, THEY
DEMONSTRATE HOW MUCH WE ALL HAVE
IN COMMON.
IN COMMON. THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, THE MUSEUM
OFFERS SPECIAL LECTURES,
PERFORMANCES AND CLASSES AS WELL
AS CHANGING EXHIBITS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SPURLOCK
MUSEUM AND ITS PROGRAMS, LOG ON
TO THEIR WEB SITE AT
WWW.SPURLOCK DOT UIUC.EDU OR
CALL THEM AT (217)333-2306.