New NYC museum explores death, all things morbid

NEW YORK — A new museum opening in New York City this weekend promises a fascinating journey into the dark side.

 

The Morbid Anatomy Museum opens Saturday in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

 

The ribbon-cutting will include a “spirit photo booth” and traditional mourning food from a cookbook titled “Death Warmed Over.”

 

But creative director Joanna Ebenstein tells The New York Times the museum’s mission is serious. It grew out of Ebenstein’s private collection of over 2,000 books on death rituals, the human body and esoterica.

 

The three-story museum is in a former nightclub. Highlights at the opening exhibition, “The Art of Mourning,” include a brooch made from human teeth. There’s also a 1850s shadowbox containing a Madonna surrounded by a memorial wreath made of locks of a deceased loved one.

 

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