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Explore Global Cultures

Discover North Carolina’s only museum dedicated to the study of global cultures. Explore stories of humanity, from ancient archaeological sites to the celebrations and struggles of today. Learn about people from around the world through their everyday objects, ceremonial artifacts, and visual arts.

Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00am to 4:30pm. Admission is free.
Find the Museum on the Wake Forest campus.

Featured Exhibits

Museum of World Cultures exhibit

Museum of World Cultures: Highlights from the UNC-Wilmington Collection
Through February 14, 2026

exhibit of Aboriginal Australian objects

Return to Sender? Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Repatriation
Through August 15, 2026

See All Exhibits

Upcoming Events

Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 17-19

Archery Exhibit Opens

Tuesday, January 27

Islam in the United States: Challenge and Resilience

Thursday, February 12, 6pm

Recent News Stories

Lam Announces Archaeology in the Americas Lecture SeriesAugust 18, 2025
Registration Open For Summer WorkshopsMay 27, 2025
Lam Collection on DisplayMay 22, 2025

See All News Stories

Explore the Collection with the Artifact of the Month

Aboriginal Australian BowlJanuary 7, 2026
Chinese ScrollDecember 1, 2025
Tlingit Eagle MaskNovember 3, 2025

See All Artifact of the Month

Find a Craft Activity with Cultures Up Close

See All Cultures Up Close

Stay in Touch

Receive updates on exhibits and events from the Lam Museum

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Jan 16

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The Museum will be closed this weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Check our stories for an opportunity to participate in a day of service in honor of Dr. King.

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Jan 14

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A glimpse behind the scenes as we prep for our new archery exhibit opening Jan. 27!

#lammuseum #archery #wakethearts #exhibit #exhibitprep

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Jan 7

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Our January #ArtifactOfTheMonth is this Aboriginal Australian bowl in the shape of an elongated oval known as a coolamon. Coolamons are made from hardwood trees where a strip of the outer bark is removed and then molded over a fire to create the curved sides. Once the coolamon is shaped and dried, they are often decorated with engravings and symbols on the exterior portion of the wood, as seen here. This type of shallow, multipurpose bowl was traditionally used by Aboriginal women to winnow grains, carry fruit, nuts, or water, and to cradle babies. For traveling long distances, the women carried coolamons on their heads, often with a ring pad made of grass, feathers, or hair to support the bowl. In contemporary Aboriginal artwork, the coolamon is a symbol of femininity emphasizing the importance of women and children.

This bowl was purchased in the late 1990s at the Warlukurlangae Artists Aboriginal Association in Alice Springs, Australia. Despite the traditionally practical uses of coolamons, this one was always intended to be seen as a piece of art.

You can see this bowl in person in the exhibit “Return to Sender? Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Repatriation” through August 15, 2026.

#Australia #AboriginalAustralia #AboriginalCulture #coolamon

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Jan 6

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Dec 12

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The Museum is now closed for Winter Break. We look forward to seeing you in 2026!

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Dec 9

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This week is the last chance to see "Life after Death: Celebrating Day of the Dead" before it closes on Friday. Don't miss it!

#lammuseum #wakethearts #DayoftheDead #díadelosmuertos

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Dec 5

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The Museum will be closed today due to inclement weather.

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Dec 2

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Did you know that the funding for our exhibits comes almost exclusively from our members? This #GivingTuesday, we hope you'll consider a Lam Museum membership. We literally can't do this without you! Visit the link in our bio to join today.

#lammuseum #museummembership

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Dec 1

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Our December #ArtifactOfTheMonth is a Chinese hanging scroll containing two remounted album leaves with watercolor paintings of locust tree branches by well-known Qing Dynasty artist Ju Lian (1828-1904). The top (left) painting is dated 1876, and the inscription reads, "Painted in the manner of Xinluo shanren, I inscribe this for the esteemed sir Jingqiao for his comments. Ju Lian painted.” The seal is inscribed Guquan, meaning Ancient Spring, which is Ju Lian’s courtesy name. The lower (right) leaf was painted in 1873, and Ju Lian wrote his pseudonym Geshan laoren or "Old Man of the Divided Mountain."

The two album leaves were collected and remounted in 1941 by Mabel Yuk-Sein Young, the wife of Jen Yu-wen, a Chinese historian and public official. She added the paragraph below the paintings, indicating that the hanging scroll was a gift to someone working with the YWCA. This matches the Lam Museum’s records, as this scroll is one of more than 100 objects in the Museum’s collection acquired by Marion Dudley of Wilmington, NC, who served as a missionary with the YWCA in China between 1927 and 1947.

This #Chinese scroll is one of a group of six scrolls that are the subject of the Museum’s 2025 Conservation Fund campaign, and we request your assistance to have them professionally conserved. The scrolls are frequently used to teach about Asian artistic traditions, visual storytelling, the history of missionaries, and relations between the United States and China. All six scrolls are very fragile, and it is increasingly difficult to use them in teaching without causing more damage. Conservation work must be done to stabilize and mount them, so they do not need to be rolled and unrolled, thus guaranteeing their long-term preservation. The help of supporters like you is essential to complete the conservation of these important artifacts. Learn more about the Conservation Fund and contribute today!

Research for this post was conducted by Xinyu (Lavender) Wang (’24).

#lammuseum #China #Chinesescroll #chinesepainting

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Nov 25

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The Museum will be closed Wednesday through Sunday for Thanksgiving weekend. We look forward to seeing you next week! 🦃

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Nov 18

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This is the final week to visit "Fragments of Changsha: Medieval China in Miniature." Don't miss your chance to see these fascinating pieces that are more than 1,000 years old!

#lammuseum #wakethearts #chineseceramics #China #tangdynasty #exhibit #free

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Nov 17

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Tomorrow at 5pm, the Museum will serve as the venue for a lecture sponsored by our friends in @wfuhistory. We hope to see you here!

#lammuseum #wakethearts #Japan

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Nov 12

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We hope to see you tomorrow for the last of our Archaeology in the Americas Lecture Series with Wake alum Dr. Alice Wright!

#lammuseum #wakethearts #archaeology #free #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #ncarchaeology

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Nov 6

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Mark your calendar for a fascinating lecture next Thursday from archaeologist (and WFU alum!) Dr. Alice Wright, who will talk about her fieldwork at Native American sites in Watauga and Ashe counties.

#lammuseum #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #archaeology #free #ncarchaeology

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Nov 3

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In honor of #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth, our November #ArtifactOfTheMonth is a Tlingit eagle mask from southeast Alaska.

Though unsigned, this eagle mask is attributed to carver Willie Marks (1901-1981). The Eagle is one of two descent groups, or moieties, that the #Tlingit people divide into. The other is the Raven. The Tlingit are a matrilineal society, meaning that a person’s belonging to either the Eagle or Raven moiety is determined by the affiliation of their mother. Moieties are then further divided into clans. To the Tlingit, the eagle is a symbol of leadership, strength, knowledge, friendship, and peace.

Willie Marks’ Tlingit name was Keet Yaanaayí. He was part of the Eagle (Ch'áak') moiety and the Chookaneidí (Hoonah) clan. Marks is recognized as one of the finest Tlingit carvers of his generation. In addition to making masks, he was also well known for his model totem poles, which helped maintain that art form during a time when full-sized totem poles were not being made. His work is known for strong sculptural planes and raised almond-shaped eyes. Marks influenced many carvers who are still working today.

This Tlingit eagle mask is on display in Museum of World Cultures: Highlights from the UNC-Wilmington Collection through February 14, 2026.

#lammuseum #wakethearts #mask #masks

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Nov 1

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Feliz Día de Muertos! We're open today from 10am to 4:30pm. Come learn more about how this special holiday is celebrated 🏵💀🏵

#lammuseum #DayOfTheDead #díademuertos #díadelosmuertos #diadelosmuertosaltar #ofrenda

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Oct 29

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We hope to see you tomorrow as we learn from curandera Yaya McBride!

#lammuseum #wakethearts #curanderismo #curandera

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Oct 23

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Our next talk is only a week away! Please join us as we learn about curanderismo with Yaya McBride next Thursday evening.

#lammuseum #wakethearts #curanderismo #curandera

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