The new American Indian galleries, scheduled to open in November 2009, will include 38 glass cases for the display of objects. These cases were designed by Museum staff and are being fabricated in Milan, Italy, by Laboratorio Museotecnico Goppion, one of the world’s most prestigious casework manufacturers, who also made the cases for the African and contemporary ceramics galleries in the Museum’s new Bloch Building.
Some of the American Indian cases will contain glass panes as tall as 10 feet, and 13 feet wide. The resulting weight is such that special structural steel beams have been attached to the existing ceiling and wall infrastructure to provide support. Shown here are some of these red iron beams, looking for all the world like a steel trapeze frozen in time and space.