Description

COLOUR: Art, Science & Power is our exciting current exhibition at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The displays harness the allure and power of colour to inspire reflection and creativity.

The exhibition integrates insights from anthropology, the arts, humanities and the sciences, bringing together extraordinary objects and artworks from different times and places. COLOUR showcases remarkable and diverse collections from across the University of Cambridge museums, libraries and colleges. Material on display includes paintings, artists materials, medieval manuscripts, ancient Egyptian figures, African sculpture, Amazonian feather headdress, textiles, a royal Hawaiian cape made of hundreds of thousands of shimmering feathers, scientific instruments, rainbow flags, iridescent shells, mineral specimens and much more!

COLOUR aims to engage diverse audiences and encourage people to explore different ways that colours are perceived, experienced and given meaning. After the dark days of the pandemic, the exhibition provides an opportunity for creative activities, sensory engagement and fun interactives. Perception quizzes reveal the extent to which colour is in the mind, yet colours are also material substances that we experience and interact with in our daily lives.

Preparations have been developed in consultation with numerous specialists and Indigenous colleagues from around the world as well as with local community and student groups.