Wired: A World Transformed by the Telegraph

Long before telephone or text, instantaneous messages travelled by telegraph. Explore the historic significance of this technological triumph of the 19th century through an exhibit featuring books, telegrams, photographs, and ephemera from the Libraries’ Peterson Telegraphy Collection. The Whole Wired World One of the great innovations of the 19th century, the telegraph, signaled the dawn of the Information Age. The Marconi Legacy Princess Marconi, the daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, Nobel Prize winner and inventor of wireless telegraphy, comes to MIT to speak with us about his legacy.

Quadrupedia: The Animal Kingdom Considered

Humans interact with animals in many different ways. We see some as friends, others as mortal threats. Animals plow our land, pull our wagons, feed us and clothe us. They serve as mascots for sports teams and institutions. Animals orbited the earth before we did, and were the very first hot-air balloon passengers as well. “Quadrupedia: The Animal Kingdom Considered” looks at the complicated relationships between humans and animals – quadrupeds in particular – as reflected in the MIT Libraries’ rare book collections. Classic works by Linnaeus and Cuvier will be on display, along with Audubon prints and a book […]

DRESSES

DRESSES is a series that turns “digital collages into objects that can be seen, worn, and felt instead of living on a computer screen.” Special thanks to Derek Palmer Photography and Nadya Peek. Location: Reading Room Columns

Lê Lam

For nearly ten years (1966-1975) Hanoi artist Lê Lam risked his life and lived in South Vietnam recording, in paint, the war which raged all around him. This exhibition contains more than twenty of the thousands of striking sketches and paintings he made during those years. Location: Main Gallery + Entrance Case

Window Shopping: Learning from Kigali, Rwanda

This photography series highlights the advertising methods used for retail shops without large display windows in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. In the context of Rwanda’s “Vision 2020” of becoming a knowledge-based middle income country, how will these evocative storefront typologies fit within or even influence this narrative of progress? Location: Reading Room Case

Yards of Faith

“Living on the Somerville/Medford line, I have been fascinated by the statues of the Virgin Mary, Jesus, and various saints that often decorate the yards in the neighborhood. In an era where one’s religious conviction is a private matter, I am drawn to these public proclamations of faith from a previous generation that is often the first on this side of the Atlantic. The shrines have been placed in commemoration of a loved one, of a promise made to God in a time of stress, or as a simple reminder of faith. Some of them are maintained with great care […]

Once More, With Feelies

When talking about digital games, we often forget the materials that surround them – and the fact that playing those games always happens by means of interacting with physical objects. This exhibition is to remind us about the variety of materiality that is present in “digital” play. Showcased objects range from supplemental materials that are sold with the game to input devices, posters and cheat codes in magazines. All of them delineate the activity of gaming by enabling, enhancing, and informing our understanding of the medium itself. Location: Entrance Case + Reading Room Case

International Tangier

Curated by Dr. Michael A. Toler Location: Main gallery Joint reception with “Retrospective”: November 17, 2016 at 7:30pm An exhibition of prints from the glass negatives collection of the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies. The photographs, which have never been exhibited in the United States, date from roughly 1900 to 1930, a period that saw the city of Tangier undergoing a growth that has been unrivaled until recent decades. Not only is Tangier now seeing a radical transformation due to new construction and infrastructure improvements, but there is also a growing emphasis on historic preservation of the built […]

Retrospective: 15 Years of AKPIA Posters

Curated by Dr. Sharon C. Smith Location: Reading room walls & columns Joint reception with “Tangier”: November 17, 2016 at 7:30pm Description coming soon

Elements

Location: Main gallery Opening reception: September 9, 2016 Curated by Dr. Sharon C. Smith A studio photographer by trade, Mike Walker approaches subjects with the intention of drawing something out that one might not see or notice at first glance. In the Elements series, he captures exquisite, ephemeral, and volatile qualities of scientific phenomena. These collaborative works, shot at various locations in Illinois and Ohio, began while he was on assignment at the Kent State NEO Beam facility—a four-story-tall, five-million-volt particle accelerator. In the photographer’s words: This is where I photographed Lichtenberg Figures (lightning in acrylic) for Popular Science. Each […]