Katie Rice

Rows of textiles patterned with bright chevron stripes and horses hang in Colgate’s Longyear Museum of Anthropology as part of the exhibition Threads of Tradition: Aymara and Quechua Textiles of the Andes.

A scientist wearing lace wings paces about the stage, while a blue-and-white “bird spirit,” also costumed in lace and feathers, sings her a birdcall. All the while, animations of cellular processes unfold on the dome above their heads. Needless to say, this was not your average science lecture.