ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
In the APS Museum gallery, commissioned artwork and visitor responses will be combined with a selection of books, letters, and manuscripts from the American Philosophical Society’s own Darwin collection - the largest outside of Cambridge, England. Our collection includes first-edition volumes, vibrant illustrations from Darwin’s South American travels, and the handwritten title page of On the Origin of Species. Blending these objects with contemporary art and visitor contributions, the gallery will become a space of exchange and reinterpretation of our historical materials.
On this site the dialogue will be continued in several ways, including a presentation of the objects in the exhibition, reviews and commentaries, and a series of topically-specific “dialogues” that will invite scholars, community groups, museum visitors, and site users to participate. For more information about Dialogues with Darwin, you can download our prospectuses below.
THE PRE-SHOW
Before this exhibition opens in April 2009, you can visit the APS Museum on Flickr. Along with several preview images of documents that will appear in the exhibition, here we are posting a series of “curator’s cuts” - research images of the American Philosophical Society’s Darwin collection.
In the process of developing the exhibition, our research staff photographed hundreds of Darwin-related objects that must be excluded from the exhibition in the gallery due to necessities of space and thematic considerations. Instead of relegating these images to our basement servers, for Dialogues with Darwin we are presenting them to you to examine, comment on, and tag.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY AND THE APS MUSEUM
Benjamin Franklin founded the American Philosophical Society in 1743 to gather the most “ingenious” minds in the colonies and “promote useful knowledge.” Over the centuries, the society has counted among its members individuals as varied as George Washington, Charles Darwin, and Martin Scorsese.
As the APS worked to support the free exchange ideas, it gathered a rich collection of objects that trace history and science from the time of the Founding Fathers to the computer age. The APS Museum presents highlights from this collection, along with loans from other institutions, in rotating thematic exhibitions. Exhibitions also include provocative commissioned works by contemporary artists that offer challenging new perspectives on history, art, and science.
Museum activities include a robust slate of innovative public programs and educational outreach projects. Museum admission and all programs are free of charge.
LINKS
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Dialogues with Darwin is being made possible in part by the generous support of the William Penn Foundation.
APS Museum | 104 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection has produced more dialogue than any other scientific idea in modern history. Dialogues with Darwin, an exhibition opening at the APS Museum in April 2009, will continue the conversation.