Ancestry Traveller

Exhibit

A Journey Through Human Genetic Diversity – Lisbon

The exhibit “A Journey Through Human Genetic Diversity” was inaugurated on the 17 of May in Lisbon, at the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Lisbon (Temporary Exhibitions Room).

The exhibit can be visited in Lisbon from the 18th of May to the 8th of September 2004.

Created in the context of the project “Human diversity along the Magalhães circum-navigation space: genetics, history and culture”, this exhibition was previously at i3S, in Porto, from January to April.

This exhibit recaps the voyage of Fernão de Magalhães and Juan Sebastián Elcano, from the perspective of the peoples’ genetics, population diversity and genetic heritage. The first circumnavigation, between 1519 and 1522, captained by Magalhães and completed by Elcano, was not only the first expedition around the world, but it also granted access to a large diversity of lands, peoples and cultures. Taking this journey as a starting point, we attempt to observe human genetic diversity, in both space and time, in light of today’s scientific knowledge. 

The exhibit also explores the interaction between genetics, identity, genomics and social practices. Given the complexity of our societies, some social practices can influence the shaping of our physical and social identities.

Through visual artistic expression and after doing ancestry tests, a group of artists explored the self-perception of identity based on all the narratives that defined them until then.


R. da Escola Politécnica 56, 1250-102 Lisboa
Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm
geral@museus.ulisboa.pt | www.museus.ulisboa.pt