In Celebration of Coptic Art

Published during week of December 9-15, 2010 | Al-Ahram Weekly Online | by Nevine El-Aref | Excerpt:

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said Coptic Art Revealed was the first locally- curated exhibition on Coptic art. It focuses on the splendours of the Coptic era and highlights the Copts' outstanding contribution to Egypt's diverse and rich heritage. The exhibition includes several painted icons by renowned artists as well as beautiful textiles; illuminated manuscripts; an excerpt from the famous Nagaa Hammadi scrolls; stone and wooden friezes with intricate Coptic designs and splendid objects for daily use.

New Blog - El Blog del Nilo

Accessed May 20, 2010 | El Blog del Nilo | contributions by Marina Escolano Poveda and El Museo Arqueológico de Alicante | This latest addition to the Egyptological blog world is connected to the exhibits "El Enigma de la Momia" and "Objetos Egipcios en Alicante." Both are the newest temporary exhibits to be installed at the Archaeological Museum of Alicante. The following link describes the El enigma de la momia exhibit and features a video that showcases some artifacts and other images relating to it: http://www.elblogdelnilo.com/acerca-de/. Do check it out (and the exhibit, if you're in the area) and leave a comment while you're there.

To Bury a Pharaoh - an Interview with Met Curator Dorothea Arnold

Published May 8, 2010 | Archaeology Magazine Online | by Eti Bonn-Muller | An interview with Met curator Dorothea Arnold who takes a fresh look at the leftover materials from Tutankhamun's mummification, which are the subject of an exhibit entitled Tutankhamun's Funeral at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Features photos and a very detailed conversation.

Tutankhamun's Funeral Exhibition at the Met will Explore Materials and Rituals

Originally published February 24, 2010 | Art Daily | An excerpt - click on the above link to read more:

In 1908, while excavating in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, American archaeologist Theodore Davis discovered about a dozen large storage jars. Their contents included broken pottery, bags of natron (a mixture of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium sulphate, and sodium chloride that occurs naturally in Egypt), bags of sawdust, floral collars, and pieces of linen with markings from years 6 and 8 during the reign of a then little-known pharaoh named Tutankhamun. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was given six of the vessels and a good part of their contents in 1909.

In time, Herbert Winlock, curator and field director of the Metropolitan's Egyptian excavations and in the 1930s Director of the Museum, came to realize that the natron and linen were the embalming refuse from the mummification of Tutankhamun. He also suggested that the animal bones, pottery, and collars might have come from a funeral meal. Winlock's analysis was an important clue that led to Howard Carter's 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb some 110 meters away.

Opening March 16 at the Metropolitan Museum, the exhibition Tutankhamun's Funeral will explore the materials and rituals associated with the burial of the pharaoh. The presentation will include some 60 objects, primarily from the Metropolitan's own collection.

Still Them and Us - a Look at the Drawings of the Time Exhibit

Originally published February 25, 2010 | Al-Ahram Weekly Online | by Gamal Nkrumah | Gamal Nkrumah's reaction and analysis of Drawings of the Time: Impressions of Edfu Temple exhibit. An excerpt:

Drawings of the Time: Impressions from Edfu Temple is an exhibition that displays colourful and engaging portraits of high priests of ancient Egyptian Temples. Gamal Nkrumah discovers they tend to be at odds with contemporary art in many respects. These striking images are definitely not the stuff of daily life in the closing years of the Pharaonic era. They have a broader and more aspiring canvas.

The exquisite works of Andalusian artists Asuncion Jodar Minarro and Ricardo Marin Viadel ornament the Egyptian Museum and offer a timely lesson in Mediterranean camaraderie. The exhibition focuses on the miscellaneous aspects of the high priests of the Ptolemaic Period. The focus of this show is art rather than history. And yet the images have quite a tale to tell.

What a difference a couple of millennia make. Two thousand years ago, these images were adored as the very likeness of the living gods. Or those destined to serve the gods. Today they are admired as imaginative and ingenious interpretations of an art of an age bygone. They were worshipped then, and they are viewed with wonder now.

Radio Interview & Podcast - Pioneers of the Past Exhibit

Accessed February 19, 2010 | Oriental Institute - Facebook | Dr. Emily Teeter and friends will be talking about the new exhibit at the Oriental Institute called Pioneers of the Past from 9 - 11pm CT on WGN Radio AM 720 today (Friday, February 19, 2010). They will take callers' questions starting at 10pm.

I believe you can listen live online. I'm not sure if you have to reside in the States for this feature to work (I know I can't watch Dr. Who episodes from the official web site because I don't live in the UK). If this happens to be the case, there will be a podcast of the interview after the broadcast: http://www.wgnradio.com/shows/ext720/.

Video - Petrie Museum Celebrates LGBT History Month

Originally posted January 28, 2010 | YouTube | by UCLTV | To celebrate LGBT History Month, for the third year, the UCL Petrie Museum has created an LGBT History Trail of objects that tell of homosexuality in ancient Egypt with considerable attention being paid to Egyptian myths and legends. John Johnston, PhD student in UCL Archaeology, points out a few of the objects on display that best represent this topic, which include reliefs, and sculptures, and a 12th Dynasty papryus. Directly related to this event is an exhibit called Beyond Osiris and Isis: Alternate Sexualities in Ancient Egypt, which I mentioned in my February 6th post (Upcoming Lectures & Workshops at the Petrie Museum) about a week ago. This exhibit lasts until April 1, 2010.

Opening the Children’s Exhibit at the Cairo Museum

Originally published February 12, 2010 | Zahi Hawass' Blog | by Dr. Hawass | The recent opening of the Children's Exhibit at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo has resulted in many great things, according to Zahi Hawass. He is very pleased that children of Egypt and around the world have an ancient Egyptian exhibit they can relate to, one that features famous Egyptian icons in LEGO form. There is also a workshop for children that teaches them about the Egyptian heritage and has graduated a thousand students. Read his blog post for a more detailed look at Dr. Hawass' reactions to this permanent exhibit.

Remaking History’s Shelves: SCA's Plan for New Museums

Accessed February 14, 2010 | Egypt Today | by Michael Kaput | This article is an overview of the SCA's ongoing and future plans to develop and restore museums to create better areas for housing the nation's antiquities, which have been in dire need of an appropriate and safe environment to be showcased. Here is an excerpt:

The building that houses the office in charge of the nation’s museums at the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) downtown is grand but half-finished. With some work, it could be truly magnificent. Whether that work gets done anytime soon is anyone’s guess. The same could be said about the SCA’s colossal undertaking to give the country’s staggering collection of artifacts a new showcase.

Flush with ticket revenue from international exhibitions and local tourist sites, the SCA is in the midst of a project that will see 20 new museums covering every governorate, and long-closed favorites re-opening to the public over the next five years. More than just cash cows feeding on tourist dollars, however, the new museums are also hope to reconnect Egyptians with their own heritage, in their own neighborhoods.

...

Part of the SCA’s plan is to air out the museum, transferring more than 20 percent of the objects, including the famed royal mummies, to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in El Fustat, due to open in two years. King Tutankhamun’s treasures will be moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) being built at the Giza Plateau, which the Museum Sector head confirms is on schedule to open in five years.

Exhibit - Interpretations of Edfu

Originally published February 9, 2010 | Al-Masry Al-Yourn | by Andrew Bossone | A new contemporary exhibit, entitled Drawings of the time: Impressions From the Edfu Temple, will be showcased at the Egyptian Museum until April 8. It is a modern interpretation of ancient artwork and features drawings from the western staircase in Edfu temple by artists and professors Assunción Jódar Miñarro and Ricardo Marín Viadel. This article divulges the inspiration and development of the exhibit and includes exhibition information at the bottom. Pictures are also included to give you a peek at the beautiful interpretive artwork.

Upcoming Exhibit - Seramón, el Enigma de la Momia

Accessed February 6, 2010 | Museo Arqueológico de Alicante

A special thanks goes to Marina Escolano Poveda for passing along some information about a new exhibit coming to the Archaeological Museum in Alicante (I've read it will run from March to October, 2010. I'm sure Marina will correct me if I'm wrong), which will showcase artifacts from the Louvre and Besançon museums, including two mummies (Seramon and Ankhpakhered), their coffins, and funerary equipment. In addition, a part of the exhibit is dedicated to Egyptian objects found at Phoenician, Roman, and other archaeological sites in the Alicante province. Be sure to check out this latter part of the exhibit, as Marina is part of its preparation, writing some of the descriptions of the artifacts for the catalog and advising about other Egyptological aspects of the general exhibit.

The web site is currently only in Spanish, but follow this link to read it in English (translated by Google Translate).

New Exhibit - Abu Simbel: the Salvaging of the Monuments

Originally published February 5, 2010 | Al-Ahram Weekly Online | by Nevine El-Aref | This article is a reaction by the author to the new exhibit entitled Abu Simbel: the Salvaging of the Monument, which is currently in Al-Sama Khana in Sayeda Zeinab and will soon be touring Europe and then worldwide. It highlights in photographic form, Italy's help in rescuing Nubian monuments during the Salvage Campaign of the 1960s and 70s. Follow the above link to read Nevine's detailed description of the history and importance behind this exhibit.

The following is an excerpt:

The idea for an exhibition was dreamed up last year in Rome by the World Wide Artists Association and the Chamber of Commerce in Rome to highlight the role of Italy in rescuing Nubian monuments from the rising waters of Lake Nasser following the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The exhibition was previously shown in 2009 in Rome inside the Temple of Hadrian. The exhibition will later tour some of the principle capitals of Europe and worldwide.

[...]

The event is taking the form of a worldwide documentary exhibition and will have a high impact, with images never before published. It will enhance not only the natural and historical value of the archaeological site, but also the anthropological aspect, paying particular attention to the human resources involved in the feat, the methodologies employed and the machinery and equipment used, as well as the projects throughout their development and realization.

[...]

According to the official statement by the organiser, the exhibition will strive to meet two main objectives: one that of reaching a global public, bringing to them awareness of the history of man, of what was achieved, the ideas that took shape in the knowledge of the convergence of historical and archaeological themes, in an effort to involve the "public at large", not only those who dedicate themselves daily to this fascinating field, the other is that of taking advantage of this unique opportunity to valorise the entrepreneurial network between Rome, Italy and Egypt's social and economic realities.

New Exhibit - the Eternal Light of Egypt

Originally published February 4, 2010 | Times Union | by Tim Kane | This article announces a new photographic exhibit called The Eternal Light of Egypt by Sarite Sanders, coming to the Albany Institute of History and Art June 13, which brings the ethereal back into the monuments of Ancient Egypt. I had the pleasure of seeing a preview this past spring, where a few of Sarite's photographs were on display at the Loyola University Museum of Art. If these were but a hint at what an entire exhibit dedicated to her photography would be like, I imagine this new exhibit is stunning. This reminds me of the tomb of Tutankhamun: such an historically unimportant king found in such a beautifully decorated tomb, a thought that makes one wildly wonder how much more splendidly the most important rulers' tombs were filled with riches. That said, the second page of this article contains all the information you need to visit the exhibit, including contact information, hours of operation, and more.

Two Granada Artists at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Originally published January 29, 2010 | Amigos de los Egiptología | An excerpt in its original Spanish (click on the above link to access this article, translated to English; click here to read the article in Spanish):

Dos granadinos serán los primeros pintores contemporáneos en exponer su obra en el Museo Egipcio de El Cairo, y lo harán gracias al trabajo de investigación y reproducción de las treinta y una figuras de los sacerdotes portainsignias de la escalera Oeste del templo Horus en Edfú (Egipto). Asunción Jódar y Ricardo Marín han realizado más de 400 dibujos, la mayoría de ellos a gran escala, de esos sacerdotes, que serán expuestos en el Museo Egipcio de El Cairo a partir del 8 de febrero y, en Granada, a partir del 27 de abril.

Impresiones del templo de Edfú es una muestra de dibujos monumentales que Jódar y Marín llevaban realizando desde el año 2005. La idea de reproducir en pintura los dibujos de los relieves de los sacerdotes surgió, según explicó Asunción Jódar, cuando la pareja de artistas visitaba el templo de Edfú. "Vimos entonces la escalera oeste del templo y me pareció muy especial, sobre todo las 31 figuras que la decoraban. Aquellos sacerdotes me llamaron la atención y pensamos en la posibilidad de dibujar sus imágenes".

Egypt Exhibit Opens in Vegas Natural History Museum

Originally published January 30, 2010 | KTNV ABC | The following is an excerpt announcing a new permanent exhibit at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, which opened yesterday (January 30):

The Las Vegas Natural History Museum in downtown Las Vegas is celebrating a milestone thousands years in the making. This Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010, the Museum opens a new permanent exhibit called The Treasures of Egypt, which features nearly 500 reproduced artifacts including the tomb of the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

The exhibit, located in the museum's new 4,000-square-foot Egyptian Pavilion expansion, provides a glimpse into the ancient past of Egyptian civilization. It features replicas generously donated by MGM MIRAGE that were formerly on display in the King Tut Museum & Tomb inside the Luxor Las Vegas, including the world-famous guardian statues, King Tut's sarcophagus and an array of statues, vases, baskets and pottery. The Museum was able to recreate the tomb of King Tut as discovered by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt in 1922. This unique replica of the actual tomb is the only known exhibit of its kind outside of Egypt.

Notorious Forgeries Take London's Limelight

Originally published January 25, 2010 | The Daily Star | A new exhibit, called the Metropolitan Police Service’s Investigation of Fakes and Forgeries at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London opened last Saturday that features ancient Egyptian fakes, including those from a man who had been in the trade for more than a dozen years and many with signed "certificates of authenticity" alongside them. The most famous of the forgeries, the Amarna Princess, is also on display. The exhibit runs until February 7.

Exhibit - Ippolito Rosellini and the Dawn of Egyptology

Accessed January 19, 2010 | ANSAmed | An excerpt:

Drawings, watercolours and unpublished manuscripts that show the beginnings of Egyptology will be exhibited for the first time in Cairo from January 26 to the end of the February in an exhibition entitled 'Ippolito Rosellini and the Dawn of Egyptology'. [...] The exhibition recounts the Franco-Tuscan expedition to Egypt, led by Jean-Francois Champollion [sic] and Pisan Ippolito Rossellini in 1828-29, which signalled one of the founding moments of Egyptology and the first section of the exhibition is in fact dedicated to the birth of the undertaking and the team which conducted it.

The exhibit runs from January 27 - February 23, 2010 at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the admission free (you can't get much better than that!)

Cairo Exhibition Showcases Ancient and Modern Egyptian Portraits

Originally published January 14, 2010 | Al-Ahram Weekly Online | by Reham El-Adawi | The following is an excerpt from this article that chronicles a new exhibit at the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum's Horizon One Gallery in Giza, which examines the attractive theme of the human face, showcasing artists' point of view in depicting Egyptian faces:

Bisar also traces the history of portraiture from ancient Egyptian times to the modern age. Ancient Egyptian portraitists were admired for their craftsmanship and technique, with forms including murals, bas-reliefs and sculptures being common. Devotion and a sense of belonging were developed in sculptures depicting kings and members of the royal family, with one famous example being the portrait bust of Queen Nefertiti done by an ancient Egyptian sculptor.

Sailing Into Antiquity: Unearthing Clues About Ancient Egypt’s Sea Trade

Originally published January 11, 2010 | The Boston Globe | by Colin Nickerson | Here's an excerpt:

The archeological digs at Egypt’s Wadi Gawasis have yielded neither mummies nor grand monuments.

But Boston University archeologist Kathryn Bard and her colleagues are uncovering the oldest remnants of seagoing ships and other relics linked to exotic trade with a mysterious Red Sea realm called Punt.

[...]

'She’s found the first fragments of an ancient Egyptian seagoing vessel - a ship that actually sailed in pharaonic times,' Wachsmann said.

This month, Cairo’s Egyptian Museum will open a special exhibition, Mersa/Wadi Gawasis: A Pharaonic Harbor on the Red Sea, featuring, among other things, cargo seals, voyage accounts, and a shipping crate marked in hieroglyphic text: "Wonderful Things of Punt."

Follow the link to the video on PBS NOVA: Building Pharaoh's Ship.

Arts Center Collaborates with UALR in Ancient Egypt Course

Originally published January 15, 2010 | Maumelle Monitor | The following is an excerpt from the Maumelle Monitor. Click the above link to read the article in its entirety.

Collaborating with the Arkansas Arts Center, the University of Arkansas College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences is bringing ancient Egypt to UALR this semester [... with] a course to coincide with the World of the Pharaohs: Treasures of Egypt Revealed exhibit. [...] Throughout the spring semester, scheduled lectures and discussions will take place in the Art Center’s exhibition space. Students will choose a piece from the exhibit to use for research projects and presentations.

For more information contact Amrhein at by phone 501 569 3182, via email lmamhrein@ualr.edu, or visit the UALR Department of Art and the Arkansas Arts Center on the web.