Otto, Ton (2014) Lives of the dead. [Creative Work]

	Video (MP4) (Trailer - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Aarhus, Denmark) [Low Resolution]) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Video (MP4) (Trailer - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Aarhus, Denmark) [High Resolution]) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (Belongings of the Dead - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (Belongings of the Dead - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The Spirit Room - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The Spirit Room - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The Spirit Room - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (Projection of ‘Passage’ by filmmakers ChristianVium, Arine Kirstein Høgel - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The 'Spirit Room' - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The 'Spirit Room' - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The Day of the Dead in Mexico - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The Day of the Dead in Mexico - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The Day of the Dead in Mexico - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The Day of the Dead in Mexico - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (Christmas Birrimmbirr [Christmas Spirit among Aborigines in Australia] - The Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (Christmas Birrimmbirr [Christmas Spirit among Aborigines in Australia] - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (Christmas Birrimmbirr [Christmas Spirit among Aborigines in Australia] - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The Day of the Dead in Mexico - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (The Day of the Dead in Mexico - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (Reburial in Uganda - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (Belongings of the Dead - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only
	Image (JPEG) (Belongings of the Dead - Lives of the Dead (Moesgaard Museum, Denmark)) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only

Abstract

The first ethnographic exhibition at Moesgaard Museum centers around the Lives of the Dead. The exhibition shows how the dead live on in different cultures and displays how the relationship between the living and the dead is experienced.

Discover how people around the world experience 'The Life of the Dead'. Dance with Mexican skeletons and skulls, tremble as ancestors reveal themselves through spirit masks and study Danish heirlooms.

Research Statement

Research Background	Interdisciplinary studies point to problems and tensions in many western societies concerning the expression of loss and mourning (Refslund Christensen and Willerslev, 2013). Creatively and critically, the subject of death provides an opportunity to explore how practices and ideas from other cultures can incite cross-cultural learning in ways that provoke sensuous engagement and self-reflection. Starting with the simple question, ‘How do people live with their dead?’, this was the underpinning aim of this site-specific (museum) project.
Research Contribution	As curator-in-chief for this exhibition at the Moesgaard Museum, Denmark, Otto lead a team of anthropologists, exhibition designers, and interaction and sound designers in search of answers to the research question. Comprising some 500 ethnographic objects, and 11 films, a 3-screen video installation, 8 soundscapes and 14 curated interviews, the exhibition uses sensory, filmic and interactive practices (e.g., movement, dance, sound and light effects) to evoke a presence of the dead. It experiments with design and curation as a new medium for ethnography: a means to seduce audiences into leaving their comfort zone and engaging with this aspect of life. The work also uses original research by regional experts, including indigenous collaborators, to further experiment with ethnographic forms.
Research Significance	This work rethinks the role of the ethnographic museum, particularly in relation to feelings of loss and mourning. Since opening in 2014, the exhibition has attracted over 400 000 visitors. Otto has been interviewed about the work many times, for newspapers, academic outlets and documentaries for Danish radio and television. The exhibition has also been the subject of a number of publications (Deger, 2014; Otto, 2014; Fibiger and Otto, 2015).
Item ID:	51269
Item Type:	Creative Work (Curated/Produced Exhibition/Event - Exhibition/Event - NTRO)
Media of Output:	500 individual objects, 11 films, one 3-screen video installation, 8 soundscapes, 14 curated interviews, 4 digital projections, 2 light installations and one interactive digital installation, 5 interactive devices
Event Details:	Lives of the Dead Moesgaard Museum, Aarhus, Denmark 1 October 2014 - present
Date Deposited:	12 Mar 2018 05:17
FoR Codes:	16 STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY > 1601 Anthropology > 160104 Social and Cultural Anthropology @ 100%
SEO Codes:	95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9502 Communication > 950205 Visual Communication @ 20% 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970116 Expanding Knowledge through Studies of Human Society @ 80%
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