Amid the myriad legitimate questions to ask about the new “Mythic Creatures” exhibit at the , one stands out:
In what universe does an exhibit about dragons and unicorns belong at a science museum?
Despite some discredited, centuries-old scientific texts to the contrary, these creatures never existed, so putting them alongside examples of real biological ingenuity — whether that’s dinosaur bones or the delicate wings of a preserved butterfly — seems potentially disrespectful to Mother Nature.
“These things, even though we’ve known for a long time they’re not real creatures, are still symbolically important to people as part of their cultural heritage,” said Samantha Richards, an educator with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, during a walkthrough earlier this week.
Cataloging and depicting them follows the museum’s educational mission because it encourages a better understanding of the natural world, she said.
“There is a lot of interesting science in this exhibit about how these creatures connect to things like fossils, and a lot of understanding about science as a process and how it changes over time,” she said.
While many of these creatures were once thought to be real, some of the most startling displays at the exhibit, which is broken into Water, Land, Air and Dragons (yes, dragons deserve their very own room), are not mythical at all.
A real, and very rare, from the museum’s own collection sits next to a 9-foot replica of the extinct bird (think ostrich on steroids), which disappeared sometime in the 1500s but seems to have leaped out of a forest in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. A strikingly detailed model of the also-very-real Gigantopithecus, a now-extinct ape whose fossils inspired stories of ape-men like Bigfoot, looks like a cousin of the hulking character from Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth.”
“It seems like it should be mythic, but it was a real creature 300,000 years ago,” Richards said.
The traveling exhibit, which runs through Sept. 7, is a bright and relatively quick visit. It originated at the in New York City, but customizations like a green-screen photo opp (with the mythical creature of your choice), unique artifacts and activity areas for youngsters add staying power.
There’s even an exploration of Colorado myths and legends, such as the fur-bearing trout.
“There are stories of things like mermaids, ape-men and dragons from all over the world,” Richards said. “There’s something there that people have been able to relate to for thousands of years.”
The folklore and mythology of various global cultures drives and gives meaning to the creatures, from ancient paragons like the griffin (everyone’s favorite lion-eagle hybrid) to more recent ones like the goat-eating chupacabra of Latin America, which is said to resemble a gargoyle.
Along the way, some amusing, unsettling examples of cultural zeitgeist-gone-awry also pop up, such as the , a literal grafting of a monkey’s head and torso onto the back half of a fish. The famous P.T. Barnum hoax once duped the paying public into thinking it really existed. With endangered animals still being hunted for the supposedly mystical properties of their tusks, skin and other body parts, it’s hard not to trace the through-line of exploitation.
The exhibit’s heart is light, however. And really, what or fan wouldn’t enjoy seeing a life-size unicorn, the kraken exploding from the floor of the museum, or the 17-foot dragon with a nearly 20-foot wingspan?
“Definitely these things are hot right now,” Richards said. “But also there’s this interest in science — what it used to be like and how it’s changed. Giant squid, for example, weren’t even filmed until the 2000s. There’s this appeal to things that we know are out there, but we don’t quite know what they are yet.”
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnwenzel
“MYTHIC CREATURES: DRAGONS, UNICORNS & MERMAIDS”
Science-infused exhibit on imaginary creatures throughout history. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. March 20 through Sept. 7 at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd. Exhibit included in regular admission: $9.95-$14.95 (children under 3 free). 303-370-6000 or dmns.org.
