UCLA is an important repository for an astounding range of objects, from African masks to vintage acupuncture charts to Renaissance prints. How do these disparate objects contribute to the mission of a major research university, and what can we learn by considering them together for the first time?

"UCLA Collects! Bodies of Knowledge" — an exhibition at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History from April 17 through Aug. 21 in conjunction with Year of the Arts — explores the role of collections at the university and how collections have played a part in UCLA's pursuit of knowledge in the 20th century and into the beginning of the 21st century.

This interdisciplinary exhibition juxtaposes significant and diverse collections of five UCLA institutions: the Fowler Museum of Cultural History, the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at the Hammer Museum, the Department of Special Collections in the Charles E. Young Research Library, History and Special Collections in the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, and the Rock Art Archive of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

"When viewed together," said Marla C. Berns, director of the Fowler Museum and leader of the curatorial team organizing the exhibition, "we hope to suggest new links across cultures and disciplines — especially between the arts and sciences — and to create a modern-day 'cabinet of wonders' to delight and inspire our visitors."

The human body, essential to our worldview, is the subject of the exhibition — focusing on its physical and conceptual manifestations through a remarkable variety of objects from many disciplines, geographic regions and eras.

Highlighted among the more than 200 objects on display are medical and anatomical treatises, including the revolutionary text "De Humani Corporis Fabrica" by Andreas Vesalius; works on paper by Matisse, Picasso, Mantegna and Rembrandt, as well as contemporary artists Kiki Smith, Bruce Nauman and Robert Gober; sculpture from Papua New Guinea and masks from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria; photographs by Eadweard Muybridge, Imogen Cunningham and Max Yavno; library holdings, such as a proof copy of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway" with corrections in her hand; and prehistoric and Native American rock art.

Visitors will be greeted by three striking life-sized representations in different media and from various countries: a haunting 20th-century standing male sculpture from the Sepik area of Papua New Guinea, a lively 1980s pâpier maché calavera skeleton by the Linares family of Mexico and a 19th-century woodblock print of the body's acupuncture points by the Japanese artist Yoshimasu.

These unique objects are displayed together to convey an overall goal of the exhibition: to suggest an alternative approach to knowledge, one whose value derives from visual and intellectual associations between objects rather than information about them, and one that relinquishes the rigidity of disciplinary models.

Subsequent galleries are organized around several themes — the body in its entirety, the head and face, the eye, and the hand — wherein the diverse collections interplay in intriguing and unusual ways. For example, the section on the eye will present several medical renderings from rare books, votive offerings from Japan and Peru, and a set of 50 glass eyes dating from the mid-19th century, as well as sculptures from India and puppets from Asia that employ the eyes as metaphors for perceiving and understanding.

"UCLA Collects" also will include introductions to each of the collections, briefly describing their histories and missions and showcasing the strengths of their holdings with a selection of highlights from each. The exhibition concludes with a tribute to Franklin D. Murphy, chancellor at UCLA from 1960–68, who was responsible for founding and/or supporting each of these collections. A true Renaissance man, as a doctor and a humanist he crossed the boundaries between the sciences and arts, just as this exhibition aims to do.

About the participating institutions:

UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History

Established in 1963, the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History explores global arts and cultures, with an emphasis on works from Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas, past and present. The Fowler's collections comprise more than 150,000 works of art as well as 600,000 archaeological objects.

Rock Art Archive, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

The UCLA Rock Art Archive is a research unit of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. Emphasizing ancient aesthetics of unique cultures with a focus on California, the Far West and Pacific islands, this collection includes 300,000 images in 15 named collections, 6,000 unpublished documents describing or analyzing 233 California sites, a specialized rock art library and correspondence files outlining the history of modern rock art studies.

Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum

Established in 1956 with a substantial gift from Fred Grunwald, UCLA's Grunwald Center has been steadily enriched through significant acquisitions and private donations. Today, the center's holdings comprise more than 45,000 European, American and Japanese prints; drawings; photographs; and artists' books dating from the Renaissance to the present.

Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library

Founded in 1946, the Department of Special Collections in the Charles E. Young Research Library houses and provides access to the UCLA Library's central collection of rare books and manuscripts in the humanities and social sciences. Its rare book holdings consist of some 333,000 volumes, while its non-book holdings comprise more than 30 million manuscripts, 5 million photographs and negatives, ephemera, maps, works of art, architectural drawings and models, and other graphic arts material.

Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library

The History & Special Collections Department of the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library collects, preserves and makes available materials dating from the 15th to the early 20th centuries in the broad subject areas of medicine and life sciences. In addition to Western medicine and biology, the collection includes Japanese and Chinese books and prints dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries and a collection of Arabic and Persian medical manuscripts dating from the 12th to the 19th centuries. The collection numbers approximately 35,000 rare books, 300 manuscript collections, 50,000 secondary works, and 150 medical instruments and objects.

"UCLA Collects!" is organized by 11 curators and directors from the five aforementioned UCLA institutions. The curatorial team is led by Fowler Museum Director Berns, and includes Cynthia Burlingham (director) and Carolyn Peter (assistant curator), Grunwald Center; Polly Roberts (deputy director and chief curator), Roy Hamilton (curator of Asian and Pacific collections), Betsy Quick (director of education), and Wendy Teeter (curator of archaeology), Fowler Museum; Victoria Steele (head of the Department of Special Collections) and Genie Guerard (head of the Manuscripts Division), Charles E. Young Research Library; Katharine E.S. Donahue (head of the History & Special Collections), Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library; and JoAnne Van Tilburg (director of the Rock Art Archive), Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Shirley and Ralph Shapiro Director's Discretionary Fund; the Office of the Dean, School of the Arts and Architecture; Herbert L. and Ann S. Lucas; the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor; the Office of the Executive Dean, UCLA College; the Office of the Vice Chancellor, Graduate Division; and the Office of the University Librarian.

The Fowler Museum is open Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 p.m., and on Thursdays, noon until 8 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The Fowler Museum, part of UCLA's School of the Arts and Architecture, is located in the north part of the UCLA campus. Admission is free. Campus parking is available for $7 in Lot 4. For more information, the public may call (310) 825-4361 or visit http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/.

Related Programs:

Lecture Series: "From the Local to the Global: Great Collectors and Their Appetites"

7 p.m., Thursday, April 28

Victoria Dailey on Jake Zeitlin

Join writer, curator and publisher Victoria Dailey as she discusses bookseller and poet Jacob Israel Zeitlin (1902–87), whose bookstores were important gathering spots for many of Los Angeles' young writers, artists and printers. In later years, Zeitlin was instrumental in bringing many collections to UCLA, including Fred Grunwald's graphic arts collection that formed the basis for the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at the Hammer Museum, as well as selling and donating many rare books and manuscripts to UCLA libraries. There will be a curator-led gallery tour at 6 p.m. prior to the lecture.

7 p.m., Thursday, May 12

Mary Levkoff on William Randolph Hearst

Join Mary L. Levkoff, curator of European Sculpture and Classical Antiquities at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as she explores the surprising multitude and diversity of William Randolph Hearst's (1863–1951) gifts to the early Los Angeles County Museum, as well as a glimpse of the newspaper magnate's contributions to UCLA, including to Special Collections at the Young Research Library and the Film and Television Archive. There will be a curator-led gallery tour at 6 p.m. prior to the lecture.

2 p.m., Sunday, June 5

Ken Arnold on Henry Wellcome

Ken Arnold, head of Public Programs for London's Wellcome Trust and curator of the acclaimed British Museum exhibition "Medicine Man: The Forgotten Museum of Henry Wellcome," will discuss the astounding collections amassed by Wellcome (1853–1936), the great entrepreneur and philanthropist who assembled more than 1 million objects related to worldwide medical history and healing, including the 30 thousand African and Oceanic works of art and material culture given to the Fowler Museum in 1965. There will be a curator-led gallery tour following the lecture.

Other Programs:

1–4 p.m., Saturday, April 30

Open House: UCLA Collections

Take this unique opportunity to tour the five venues represented in "UCLA Collects!" and see highlights from each collection. Space is limited; reservations required: (310) 825-8655.

1–4 p.m., Saturday, May 14

A "World of Art Family Workshop": UCLA Collects and So Do You!

Join Fowler staff for a casual workshop on how to organize, document and display your own collections, from bugs to cars and sculptures to trading cards. (Note: please do not bring actual collections into the museum.) Free for Fowler members; $5 fee for non-members. Reservations required: (310) 825-8655.

9 a.m.-12 p.m., Saturday, May 21

ARTalk: Collectors in the Classroom

A K-12 teachers' workshop

Teachers are invited to explore the history of museums and hear suggestions for beginning to organize classroom and student collections. Participate in a guided exploration of "UCLA Collects! Bodies of Knowledge" — which features rare books on handmade paper from Special Collections in the Charles E. Young Research Library — then learn the ancient art of papermaking using recycled materials and find out how to use handmade paper and found objects to create artists' books. Free for members; $10 fee for non-members. Reservations required: (310) 825-7325.

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