“PANAMANIAN PASSAGES”: NAVIGATING FROM PANAMA’S PAST TO THE PRESENT
PANAMA CITY, Panama, May 14, 2010 – Bold images and historic artifacts help illustrate Panama’s rich history and culture through the Smithsonian Institution’s
(in Washington, D.C.) “Panamanian Passages” exhibit. The bilingual showcase highlights important milestones in Panama’s history and present including Panama’s fight for freedom and its historic undertaking to expand the Panama Canal.
As visitors walk through the halls of the exhibit they are surrounded with Panamanian history dating back to the rise of the isthmus some three million years ago. The 55 objects on showcase have been pulled from Panama, Colombia, Spain and the United States and offer visitors an opportunity to visualize and better understand how science, history and culture have shaped Panama and its Canal.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) sponsored an interactive educational program for middle and high school students called “Panama as a Crossroad” that highlighted and connected various themes in the exhibition with their school curriculum. During the course of the exhibition, this program served more than 2,000 students and teachers.
Since October 14, 2009, the opening day of the exhibit, there have been more than 369,953 visitors, including students and teachers who traveled through time to learn about the true roots of Panamanian pride.
The exhibit, which will be on view until May 31, 2010, is organized by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Museo del Canal Interoceánico de Panama with support of the ACP. The exhibition is open in the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily.
About the Panama Canal Authority (ACP)
The ACP is the autonomous agency of the Government of Panama in charge of managing, operating and maintaining the Panama Canal. The operation of the ACP is based on its organic law and the regulations approved by its Board of Directors. For more information, please refer to the ACP's Web site: www.pancanal.com. You can also follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thepanamacanal.