In 2009, we saw the Terracotta Warriors tour America, racking up record attendance figures, while King Tut exhibitions criss-crossed the globe and the Staffordshire Hoard went on show in London just months after being unearthed in a West Midlands field by an avid metal detectorist.
2010 looks set to be equally as big a year for heritage exhibitions around the world. The iconic and controversial Lewis Chessmen will be reunited in Scotland for the first time in over 150 years in Edinburgh this May. The massive Shanghai World Expo will open around the same time, with a number exhibits themed on the culture of the Tang Dynasty of ancient China. In the autumn, the British Museum in London will reveal the secrets behind the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Here’s our look at ten of the top exhibitions to look out for, from the UK to China and the USA. Some of them are big-budget affairs taking place in some of the world’s most famous museums; others are potential hidden gems occurring off the beaten-track. Book your tickets now!
1. The Lewis Chessmen
Where? National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (then touring)
When? May 21, 2010 – September 19, 2010
The medieval Lewis Chessmen were hand carved by Norse master craftsmen in Trondheim, then for some reason abandoned in a sand dune on a Scottish island, before being discovered in 1831 and split up and sold to two different museums, in Edinburgh and London. For the first time in over 150 years, pieces from both collections – 30 of them in total – will be reunited in Scotland, in a hotly-anticipated touring exhibition that begins in Edinburgh before visiting Aberdeen Art Gallery (October 7, 2010 – January 8, 2011), Shetland Museum & Archives (January 29, 2011 – March 27, 2011) then finally Museum nan Eilean on the chessmen’s spiritual home of Lewis (April 15, 2011 – September 12, 2011).
2. Journey Through the Afterlife: The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
Where? British Museum, London
When? November 4, 2010 – March 6, 2011
The Book of the Dead was a weighty compilation of illustrated spells thought vital by the ancient Egyptians to aiding safe transit on the tricky passage through the underworld to eternal life.
This major exhibition at the British Museum will examine the book in detail – how it evolved and changed over the centuries – as well as the wider ancient Egyptian concept of leaving goods in the grave in the expectation that they somehow helped the deceased enjoy peaceful and everlasting tranquility in death. Alongside manuscripts of the Book of the Dead on papyrus and linen, there’ll be shabti funerary figurines, amulets, jewellery, statues and coffins.
3. King Tut Exhibition – Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs
Where? Discovery Times Square Exposition, New York
When? April, 2010 – December, 2010
Tutankhamun will make his first return to the Big Apple in 30 years in April, when this major National Geographic exhibition of 130 artefacts from his spectacular Valley of the Kings’ tomb visits Times Square. Choice attractions will include the boy king’s golden canopic coffinette, and the crown found on his head when the tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter. There’ll be special displays describing the discovery of his tomb and how it reflected traditions in ancient Egyptian burial practice. Additionally, the latest results from the scientific study of his mummy – and what they’ve taught us about his life and death – will be explained.
4. Meroe, Empire on the Nile
Where? The Louvre, Paris
When? March 26, 2010 – June 9, 2010
Meroë – situated on the Nile in Sudan, two hundred kilometers north of present-day Khartoum – was an important royal capital where African, Egyptian and Greco-Roman influences mingled fascinatingly between 270 BC and 350 AD. The Louvre will for the very first time present an exhibition dedicated exclusively to this ancient seat of regional power, comprising loans mainly from the Museum of Khartoum as well as the British Museum in London, the World and Garstang museums in Liverpool, and other institutions in Munich, Berlin and Leiden. Highlights will include a celebrated gilt bronze statue of an archer-king, and a special focus on the discovery of the ruins of the Meroë pyramids by Frédéric Cailliaud in 1821.
5. Shanghai World Expo
Where? Various venues, Shanghai
When? May 1, 2010 – October 31, 2010
As we blogged back in September, the Terracotta Warriors won’t be attending the 2010 Shanghai World in Expo as was originally reported. It’s been decided that Qin Shi Huang’s afterlife honour guard would conflict with the theme of the culture of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) adopted in Shaanxi Province during the massive six month festival of business, science and technology.
Highlights of Shanghai Expo – which is expected to be attended by up to 200,000 visitors daily – will instead include a pavilion built in the style of the Tang, at the entrance to which will be two talking robots, designed to look like Emperor Xuanzong and his favourite concubine Yang Guifei.
6. The Lost World of Old Europe
Where? Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, New York
When? Until April 25, 2010
Up and running since November 2009, this exhibition at New York’s ISAW examines the cultures of Old Europe – that is, a cycle of related cultures that thrived in southeastern Europe during the fifth and fourth millennia BC, around the fertile valleys and agriculturally rich plains of the Danube River. Predating even Mesopotamia and Egypt’s earliest cities, settlements in Old Europe had populations of up to 10,000 people, and represented the most culturally and technologically advanced places on earth at the time.
The Lost World of Old Europe features an array of incredible finds from three countries steeped in Old European heritage – Bulgaria (one of the world’s most painfully neglected archaeological treasure troves), the Republic of Moldova and Romania.
7. Fakes and Forgeries: Yesterday and Today
Where? Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario
When? January 9, 2010 – April 4, 2010
Forgeries of artefacts is a big problem in all fields, from natural history and world cultures to modern designer brands. This exhibition at Ontario’s Royal Museum will help people understand how to spot the difference between a real heritage treasure and a complete fake. Ancient world-related sections will include focuses on Egyptian, Mexican, Chinese and Greek antiquities, each placing authentic-looking knock-offs next to bona-fide treasures and highlighting the tell-tale inconsistencies.
8. Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures
Where? Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee
When? January 22, 2010 – June 6, 2010
A number of incredible archaeological objects – including actual Dead Sea Scrolls, plus other early biblical artefacts – will be gathered together by Milwaukee Public Museum to tell the 2,000 year old story of how these early manuscripts influenced the belief systems of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The largest temporary exhibit ever produced by the Milwaukee Public Museum will also examine the wider archaeological history of the Holy Land during the period the Scrolls were penned, from the third century BC through to the first century AD. Another highly popular exhibition on the Dead Sea Scrolls finishes its run at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum in early January.
9. Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa
Where? British Museum, London
When? March 4, 2010 – June 6, 2010
From the 12th to the 15th century AD, the Kingdom of Ife – a city-state in what is now modern Nigeria – was a cosmopolitan and wealthy centre of regional power, integral to local and long-distance trade networks alike. Its finest artistic creations will be the subject of this British Museum spring-summer exhibition. The beautiful sculptures Ife’s best artists created – out of brass, copper, stone and terracotta – reveal not just the technical sophistication of their unique style, but also give a little glimpse of Ife society, since they portray a wide cross-section of people. Young and old, healthy and ill, stricken and serene will all be portrayed alike, in refined and naturalistic detail.
10. Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece
Where? Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville (then touring)
When? January 29, 2010 – April 25, 2010
Presently finishing its stint at the Walters Museum of Art in Baltimore – the institution which has organised the exhibition – Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece arrives in Nashville in January, then travels to two other US cities before the year is out.
Through 100 different artefacts, it examines the making and worshiping of heroes in ancient Greece between the 6th and 1st centuries BC – both mythical figures, such as Herakles, Achilles and Odysseus, and mortal heroes including warriors, athletes, and rulers. After leaving Tennessee in April, Heroes heads to San Diego Museum of Art in California, (May 22, 2010 – September 5, 2010) then finally the Onassis Cultural Center, New York (October 5, 2010 – January 3, 2011).
