Monday, 10 February 2025

Seeing Rural Life at Seoul's Agricultural Museum, Part One

Seoul has a nifty museum dedicated to all things grown. Most of the exhibits are dioramas that illustrate long ago farming life, techniques. Plow that field, sow that wheat. Let's get hoeing.

A diorama reaching way back to the early period of first clearing land. "Fire is so cool, let's burn some plants!"

Villages develop and dogs stick around. Women, doing the real work.

Fences go up, someone has to do the night watch.

Dirty work, iron ore smelting. Back breaking work.

Blessing the growing season. A Joseon king holding a seonnongje ceremony. Get your lucky oxen going.

Wednesday, 5 February 2025

Diorama Details At The California Academy Of Sciences

There's an impressive group of African animal dioramas at San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences. Lions, a gorilla, some regal creatures with hooves. Labels are good.

And so are details. Like a gorilla's arm.

How about a steenbok being dwarfed by a sexy king protea? Or a couple of African wild dogs? Woof!

Cheetah kill.

Profile of a sable antelope. And a rump sliver. Bongo leg in bamboo.

Olive baboons, grooving.