Arts & Culture

The Maya 2012: Lords of Time exhibit opened this weekend at the Penn Museum. Despite having been many times before, I’d never actually made it to an opening. Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa spoke about the importance of Maya culture and its influence on the rest of the world. He seemed to have a personal interest in how it is that the Maya theory that the world would end in 2012 became such an international phenomenon. He joked that we were all crazy for believing it, but that it was in fact a huge help to the country because the myth has drawn so many talented archaeologists.

Not unified by any particular style, West Philly Abstraction presents eight artists—artists whose works have been exhibited internationally and are part of major museum collections—who make West Philly their home. Opening on Friday, March 9.

With "MAYA 2012: Lords of Time"—a world premiere exhibition opening May 5th—the Penn Museum confronts the current fascination with the year 2012, comparing predictions of a world-transforming apocalypse with their supposed origins in the ancient Maya civilization. The exhibition runs through January 13th, 2013.