Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend
On view September 28, 2024 through June 15, 2025
Featuring an Opening Day Narwhal Carnival
SALEM, MA – This fall, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) invites visitors to dive deep into the world of narwhals. These unique ocean dwellers, sometimes called the “unicorns of the sea,” spend their lives in the Arctic waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia. Learn about their changing Arctic ecosystem through firsthand accounts of scientists and Inuit community members. Hear soundscapes of the Arctic, including the evocative vocalizations of the narwhal, and touch an 8-foot-long cast of a real narwhal tusk.
On view in The Dotty Brown Art & Nature Center, this family-friendly, interactive exhibition is part of PEM’s interdisciplinary Climate + Environment Initiative. Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend includes contemporary Inuit sculptures and prints and a historic book from PEM’s Phillips Library collection. The exhibition is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and is on view at PEM September 28, 2024 through June 15, 2025.
“With its remarkable spiral tooth, the narwhal has inspired legends and fascinated people across cultures for centuries,” said Jane Winchell, PEM’s Curator of Natural History and The Sarah Fraser Robbins Director of the Dotty Brown Art & Nature Center.
“These mysterious creatures inspire a sense of wonder and are hard to see in person, since they do not survive in zoos and aquariums. You’d have to travel to the Arctic to find them, because they are uniquely adapted to live among sea ice much of the year.”
According to Smithsonian Magazine, “research into tusk function and feeding strategies have brought this elusive animal into the news, while declining sea-ice cover has drawn new attention to its Arctic ecosystem.” The world population of these recognizable creatures is currently estimated to be around 173,000 individuals, but climate change in the Arctic poses a significant threat.
“The future of narwhals is uncertain in a rapidly changing Arctic, but Inuit and scientific communities are collaborating to help us to better understand these animals and help ensure the survival of this beloved species,” said Winchell.
EXHIBITION OPENING CELEBRATION
Saturday, September 28 | 10 am–3 pm | Included with admission
Join us for a Narwhal Carnival
Meet fantastical marionette puppets walking through the galleries and create your own whimsical sea creature using recycled materials with a local artist. Plus, enjoy an ocean-themed PEM Pals with us! Designed for children (5 and under) and their caregivers, PEM Pals aims to engage and excite all of the senses through books, movement, music, art and hands-on activities. Find out more at pem.org.
Walkabout Puppets with Purple Rock Productions
10 am–3 pm | Throughout the museum
Meet some very special marionette characters ready to share their joy and invite playfulness into your museum visit.
PEM Pals with Teresa Coelho
10:30–11:30 am | Main Atrium
Move, groove, sing and listen with Teresa Coelho, director of Music Together® of Salem. Explore ocean animals and stories through music and enjoy a reading of Little Narwhal, Not Alone by Tiffany Stone.
Drop-In Art: Recycled Fantastic Creatures
11 am–3 pm | Create Space Studios
Meet local artist and art therapist Bruce Orr and explore sea creatures with features and superpowers stranger than fiction! Tinker with a wide variety of recycled materials, and learn how you can give life to used household items to create new artworks.
Gallery Activation: Get to Know Narwhals
11 am–3 pm | Exhibition Gallery
Come curious for a hands-on exploration of what makes narwhals unique at our in-gallery discovery cart.
PUBLICATION
Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend is a 229-page companion publication edited by William Fitzhugh, director of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center. This publication examines the latest research in narwhal biology, art and climate science, illustrated by more than a dozen photographers and graphic artists. Artists and scientists throughout history celebrate this elusive whale and its extraordinary tusk. From Flemish unicorn tapestries, Inuit traditional knowledge and scientific research comes a tale of discovery from the top of the world, a place where climate change is rapidly transforming one of the harshest environments on Earth.
How did the narwhal tusk become the horn of the fabled unicorn? What legends do the Inuit teach about this majestic but elusive denizen? What have scientists discovered about the function of its tusk? Explore with whale biologists as they capture live narwhals to answer questions of narwhal biology, migration, population and behavior. Ponder the evolutionary history of the narwhal through paleontology and genetic science. Contemplate the fate of northern regions, animals and peoples in a rapidly warming Arctic, and experience the insights and observations of Inuit hunters who have lived with the narwhal for thousands of years. This book is available in the PEM Shop.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow along and share your experience on social media using #NarhwalsatPEM
IMAGE CREDITS
- The elusive narwhal with its magnificent spiral tooth. Photo by Glenn Williams, Narwhal Tusk Research.
- Narwhals feature prominently in modern Inuit artists’ work, in mediums ranging from carving and sculpture to printmaking and drawing. Tim Pitsiulak (Kinngait Inuit) based this lithograph on his observations of the narwhal. Allangua (Narwhal), 2016. Tim Pitsiulak (Kinngait Inuit).
- Firsthand accounts from scientists and Inuit community members reveal how traditional knowledge and experience, coupled with scientific research, heighten our understanding of the narwhal and the changing Arctic. Photo by Joseph Meehan, Narwhal Tusk Research.
ORGANIZERS AND SPONSORS
Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. This exhibition at PEM is made possible by Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation. We thank Jennifer and Andrew Borggaard, James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes, Chip and Susan Robie, and Timothy T. Hilton as supporters of the Exhibition Innovation Fund. We also recognize the generosity of the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum and the support and guidance of the Art & Nature Center Visiting Committee.
About the Peabody Essex Museum
Founded in 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, is the country’s oldest continuously operating museum. PEM provides thought-provoking experiences of the arts, humanities and sciences to celebrate the creative achievements and potential of people across time, place and culture. By connecting people through inquiry, empathy and dialogue, PEM encourages an understanding of our shared humanity and fosters a sense of belonging in a complex, ever-changing world. We build, steward and share our superlative collection, which includes African, American, Asian Export, Chinese, contemporary, Japanese, Korean, maritime, Native American, Oceanic and South Asian art, as well as architecture, fashion and textiles, photography, natural history and one of the nation’s most important museum-based collections of rare books and manuscripts. PEM offers a varied and unique visitor experience, with hands-on creativity zones, interactive opportunities and performance spaces. The museum’s campus, which offers numerous gardens and green spaces, is an accredited arboretum and features more than a dozen noted historic structures, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old Chinese home that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture in the United States.
DIGITAL MEDIA KIT
Find exhibition related images and information HERE.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Whitney Van Dyke | Director of Marketing & Communications
whitney_vandyke@pem.org | 978-542-1828
Amelia Kantrovitz | Exhibition Publicist
amelia_kantrovitz@pem.org | 617-794-4964