Publications » Exhibits
Enchanting Ruin: Tintern Abbey and Romantic Tourism in Wales » An exhibit that examines Wales’ Tintern Abbey, an icon within Romantic literature and art, through a variety of different artistic and scholarly lenses. The exhibit uses images, archeological analyses, poetry, landscape, travel writing and industry as ways of looking at this historical and literary landmark.
Diversity in the Desert: Daily Life in Greek and Roman Egypt » The University of Michigan Papyrus collection presents this collection of preserved documents from Greek and Roman Egypt circa 332 B.C.E. to 641 C.E. Scholars and historians have been able to reconstruct Egyptian history from many of the items on display, which include several-thousand-year-old tax receipts, poetry, medical recipes, and the letters of St. Paul to the early churches.
Jo Labadie and His Gift To Michigan: A Legacy for the Masses » Jo (Charles Joseph Antoine) Labadie was a human rights activist who helped launch the first labor unions within Michigan during its industrial age in the early 1900s. The exhibit showcases Labadie’s efforts toward social reform through a variety of his preserved printed documents, which include pamphlets, magazines, books, and newspapers, among other memorabilia.
Netherlandic Treasures » A collection of Netherlandic rare, pre-1800s books, maps, and pamphlets. The collection is unique in how it has been amassed by the University of Michigan’s ties directly with Dutch book companies and libraries, as well as its inclusion of documents which chronicle the minority status of Catholicism in the Netherlands.
Radical Responses to the Great Depression » This exhibit provides a radical view of the Great Depression through a variety of printed media that range from political cartoons, newspaper snippets and sheet music to Socialist Party pins, “radical” novels, and strike ballots. The exhibit is organized by topics of interest, which include themes such as socialist and communist labor unions, court cases, and the Spanish Civil War.
St. Petersburg: Window on the West - Window on the East » The St. Petersburg collection chronicles the “Silver Age” of Russian art, a period that lasted from 1890 to 1925. This period saw a great deal of social and political upheaval that resulted in an artistic revolution in Russia. The collection includes a variety of special documents including books on dance, music, and theatre, a collection of Russian satire, as well as a collection of Russian Futurism works.
The Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia: August 1968 » The Prague Spring, a brief period of political and economic liberalization in the history of Czechoslovakia, was brought to an end by the August 1968 invasion by troops from the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. The flourishing Czechoslovak art and political scene of this period can be seen through the exhibit’s collection of photographs and papers, which range from resistance materials to political cartoons.
