Alaska Exhibition

Alaska is a land of contrasts and extremes, a complex social and natural landscape that lends itself to myth and cliché. The Alaska exhibition tells the story of Alaska through multiple voices and perspectives reflecting the ingenuity, technology, ways of knowing and intimate understanding of the landscape that have allowed people to survive and thrive across the North.

The exhibition is organized by 13 themes reflecting essential aspects of life in Alaska, both today and throughout the state’s rich history. These themes reveal the identity of Alaska and its people.

On view are more than 400 objects from the Anchorage Museum’s collections, including several acquired or on loan especially for this new exhibition.

Visitors experience immersive installations throughout the exhibition with elements of sculpture, video and interactivity, soundscapes, moving images and cinematic narratives with participative moments.

The visitor journey follows an intuitive clockwise path that begins and ends at the same point. Visitors move forward in time, exploring themes and absorbing Alaska’s history as it relates to contemporary issues.

At the heart of the gallery is a central space featuring the people and stories of Alaska through a growing archive of biographies and images. The space is a gathering place and hosts artists and performances, school groups, readings, storytelling and special events. Visitors may also explore a complementary gallery for temporary exhibitions related to Northern narratives.

Together, these elements invite visitors to consider for themselves what Alaska really is: what is real, what is myth, and what lives in the space in between.

Gut Cape

Unangan c. 1880. Sea lion gut, human hair, caribou hair, yarn Anchorage Museum Collection, 1986.031.001 Overall Dimensions (on mannequin): 142.2 x 71.1 x 48.3 cm (56 x 28 x 19 in.) This Chugaayux (cape) is from the Aleutian Islands c. 1850, and it is made of sea lion gut, caribou hair, feathers and wool. Unangan, Alutiiq, Yup’ik, and Inupiaq women all used sea mammal gut to make a variety of products, including waterproof parkas and bags. Gut is light, flexible, and provides excellent protection from the cold water and frequent winds of coastal Alaska. This prestigious garment was likely inspired by Euro-American naval officer cloaks, which Unangan sewers would have seen worn by explorers in the Aleutian Islands. Gut parkas were made by Unangan women for thousands of years, though by the 1830s they adapted their vast knowledge to making decorated capes.
Chris Arend

Alutiiq Hat

Western Prince William Sound or Kodiak Island region Mid-19th century. Spruce root, pigment, dentalium shells, glass beads, cotton and woolen cloth, sea lion whiskers, hair, rawhide. Joint accession with the Alutiiq Museum, Kodiak, Alaska. This acquisition was made possible with generous support from the Anchorage Museum Foundation, Old Harbor Native Corporation, Koniag Incorporated, Afognak Native Corporation, Ed Rasmuson and Shoonaq’ Tribe of Kodiak.
Bonhams & Butterfields

Birch Bark Basket

Dena’ina 1916-1917, Susitna Station. Birch bark, willow root, wood Anchorage Museum 1997.048.001 Birch bark containers were ubiquitous in Dena’ina villages and camps into the early 20th century. They served a variety of purposes, including collection of berries and other plants and stores of food. For cooking, baskets were filled with water and hot rocks.
Chris Arend

Alaska Exhibition 2

The renovated *Alaska* exhibition is organized by themes reflecting essential aspects of life in Alaska, both today and throughout the state’s rich history. These 11 themes reveal the identity of Alaska and its people.

Oscar Avellaneda-Cruz

Alaska Exhibition 1

The renovated Alaska exhibition at the Anchorage Museum opened Sept. 15, 2017

Oscar Avellaneda-Cruz

Alaska Exhibition

The renovated *Alaska* exhibition is organized by themes reflecting essential aspects of life in Alaska, both today and throughout the state’s rich history. These 11 themes reveal the identity of Alaska and its people.

Kevin G. Smith

The Alaska exhibition is now on view

The renovated *Alaska* exhibition is organized by themes reflecting essential aspects of life in Alaska, both today and throughout the state’s rich history. These 11 themes reveal the identity of Alaska and its people.

Oscar Avellaneda-Cruz

Art of the North

The Art of the North galleries in the museum’s new wing present the museum’s art collection from the perspectives of American art and an international North.

Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

Cultural heritage pieces from the Smithsonian’s collections, selected and interpreted with help from Alaska Native advisers, tell the story of Alaska’s First Peoples.