Please Note:
The Death, Defense, Distinction Exhibit at our Bristol gallery is currently closed for renovations.

Death, Defense, Distinction: Weapons and Power explores the multi-facetted roles that weapons play in cultures around the world, whether used as tools in subsistence hunting, displayed as symbols of power and prestige, or brandished as central elements in technologies of conflict. This exhibition was curated by Brown University students as part of the university's Museum Studies program in Anthropology.

Death, Defense, Distinction: Weapons and Power draws upon the Haffenreffer Museum's global collections to address issues that are as timely as they are timeless. Among the items on display are Akan ceremonial weapons from Ghana, San poisoned arrows from the Kalahari desert, ivory harpoon heads from the Arctic, bows and arrows from nineteenth century cultures of the North American Plains, and more. This exhibition challenges visitors to find new ways of looking at weapons, to think globally and to reflect on a central but perhaps troubling aspect of what it means - and has long meant - to be human.