Bob Dylan’s American Journey

The Experience Music Project has created a traveling exhibit called Bob Dylan’s American Journey. It begins in the post-war Hibbing, Minnesota, where Dylan grew up, and follows him through his debut on the national stage of the Greenwich Village folk scene and into his massive fame as one of the first rock stars. It ends with the making of three his greatest albums: Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde.

The exhibit features...

more than 150 artifacts, including Dylan’s 1949 Martin 00-17 guitar, typed and handwritten lyrics, rare concert posters and handbills, signed albums, and dozens of photographs, as well as unique artifacts from artists such as Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Carolyn Hester, Bruce Langhorne, D. A. Pennebaker, Robbie Robertson, and Dave Van Ronk.

At the center of the exhibit are four films exploring different facets of Bob Dylan’s career, with rare performance footage and interviews with Dylan and other artists. In addition to the films, three viewing stations allow visitors to watch excerpts from the Dylan films Don’t Look Back and Eat the Document, as well as an interview with Dylan himself.

Seven listening stations enable visitors to hear Dylan’s musical evolution and innovations during this 10-year period. Each station includes tracks from his first seven albums, plus outtakes, bootlegs, cover versions, and other songs that influenced Dylan’s work.

The exhibit is at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York through December. It will be at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis from January 2007 through September 2007.

[TJH]