As we move forward into this next exciting chapter, PEM has been developing new strategies for exhibition design, interpretation and curation, diving deep into our collection to tell stories that span centuries and take us around the globe. The new wing is anchored by three new galleries that showcase Maritime Art, Asian Export Art and Fashion & Design.

Of the 230 maritime objects to be installed to the new wing, the first has just been moved into place. And, it’s a big one. With a GoPro suspended to its stern, this 2,000+ pound, 22-foot long model of the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner recently glided into the new Maritime Art gallery, located on the first floor of the new wing.

Billed as the largest model ever made of the largest ocean liner at the time, the model came to PEM in 1970 through a PEM Trustee, and for many years was on view with PEM’s classic figureheads in East India Marine Hall and most recently, in the Putnam Gallery. Hand-carved from a single piece of mahogany, the QE model was commissioned by Cunard to furnish their palatial offices on 5th Avenue in New York City. According to our records, “the intention…was to awe the viewers with the power and magnificence of the vessel and to entice them to book passage aboard” the actual Queen Elizabeth.

On the second floor of the new wing, PEM will soon begin installing works in a gallery dedicated to the museum’s Asian Export Art collection, which is foremost in the world. Through 200 works, we will be able to explore artistic and cultural exchange as a catalyst for creativity and the interplay of commerce and creative expression.

While globalism may seem like a uniquely modern concept, PEM’s Asian Export art collection illuminates how the complex dynamics of international relations and trade have been at work for centuries.

Between the 17th and 19th centuries, porcelain, textiles, tea, ivory and silver were the focus of intensive trade activity between east and west. The legacy of these exchanges continues today in both positive and negative ways. For the first time, PEM’s Asian Export Art installation will examine the long tail effect of the opium trade and how it has contributed to today’s opioid crisis.

On the third floor of the new wing, work is underway to develop PEM’s new Fashion & Design gallery, which invites visitors to consider that we are designing creatures who continually manipulate, respond to and mold our changing world. The installation unifies two traditionally disparate collecting fields to better understand what underlies our motivations and capacity for outfitting ourselves and designing the world around us.

Followers of PEM’s fashion initiative will be thrilled to learn that a selection of ensembles from the Iris Apfel Rare Bird of Fashion collection will be on view. Apfel’s exuberant remixing and inventive styling has made her of one of the world’s most prominent fashion icons.