A new exhibit at HistoryMiami in downtown Miami explores the origins of mythical creatures such as mermaids, sea monsters, unicorns and even local creatures of lore like the Skunk Ape and Chupacabra.
Mythical Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids opened Saturday and is scheduled to run through March 31, 2024.
The exhibit looks into “the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythical fantasies,” according to the museum.
Some of the highlights of the exhibit are a 17-foot long dragon with a 19-foot wingspan, a Kraken sea monstoer with 12-foot long tentacles and a 10-foot unicorn.
The exhibit is organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum, the Canadian Museum of Natural History, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History and the Field Museum in Chicago.
View of a statute of Saint George and the Dragon part of the “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids”, exhibition on display at the HistoryMiami Museum, The exhibition opening on July 8th, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythic fantasies. Organized by theAmerican Museum of Natural History in New York, on Saturday, July 08, 2023. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
View of a 10-foot-long unicorn, at the entrance to the “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids”, exhibition on display at the HistoryMiami Museum, The exhibition opening on July 8th, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythic fantasies. Organized by theAmerican Museum of Natural History in New York, on Saturday, July 08, 2023. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
View of the mythic Miami section part of the “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids”, exhibition on display at the HistoryMiami Museum, The exhibition opening on July 8th, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythic fantasies. Organized by theAmerican Museum of Natural History in New York, on Saturday, July 08, 2023. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
View of a “Chupacabra” -Goat Sucker” (right), a modern myth in the Americas and a Barong Ket mask, an important cultural artifact in Bali, part of the “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids”, exhibition on display at the HistoryMiami Museum, The exhibition opening on July 8th, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythic fantasies. Organized by theAmerican Museum of Natural History in New York, on Saturday, July 08, 2023. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
View of a 10-foot-long unicorn, at the entrance to the “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids”, exhibition on display at the HistoryMiami Museum, The exhibition opening on July 8th, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythic fantasies. Organized by theAmerican Museum of Natural History in New York, on Saturday, July 08, 2023. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Visitors look at a Gigantopithecus, an extinct genus of ape from roughly 2 million to 350,000 years ago, part of the “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids”, exhibition on display at the HistoryMiami Museum, The exhibition opening on July 8th, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythic fantasies. Organized by theAmerican Museum of Natural History in New York, on Saturday, July 08, 2023. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Visitors look at a giant model of a mythical Roc (left) and a a 120-foot-long Chinese parade dragon, used in New York City’s Chinatown to perform the traditional dragon dance at the Lunar New Year, part of the “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids”, exhibition on display at the HistoryMiami Museum, The exhibition opening on July 8th, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythic fantasies. Organized by theAmerican Museum of Natural History in New York, on Saturday, July 08, 2023. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Visitors look at a Manatee and a Mermaid, part of the “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids”, exhibition on display at the HistoryMiami Museum, The exhibition opening on July 8th, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythic fantasies. Organized by theAmerican Museum of Natural History in New York, on Saturday, July 08, 2023. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Visitors look at Giant Squid, part of the “Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids”, exhibition on display at the HistoryMiami Museum, The exhibition opening on July 8th, traces the natural and cultural roots of some of the world’s most enduring mythological creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond, and even how Miamians embrace their own mythic fantasies. Organized by theAmerican Museum of Natural History in New York, on Saturday, July 08, 2023. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published July 9, 2023 at 9:45 AM.
David Goodhue covers the Florida Keys and South Florida for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald. Before joining the Herald, he covered Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware.
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