Final day in the UK
For my last day in London, I managed to pack in two of my favourite things - the Egyptian collection at the British Museum and some shopping! There are currently two special (i.e. temporary) Egyptian exhibitions on show at the BM - ‘Egypt: faith after the pharaohs’ and ‘Scanning Sobek’ - both of which I strongly recommend. ‘Faith after the pharaohs’ was particularly well-curated, taking visitors on a chronological journey of the major turning points in religious beliefs from the Romanisation of the Egyptian pantheon of gods in the time of Augustus through to present day Islam. There is an outstanding selection of objects on show, clear themes and plenty of information (but not too much). My only gripe would be the exhibition design. The rooms were poky and unaccommodating of large crowds (although I get the impression that’s the nature of that space for any exhibition - it’s located upstairs in the Great Court). There didn’t seem to be any crowd control either. The exhibition shop was most amusing. One modestly sized appliqué from the Tentmakers Market in Cairo was marked up at 550GBP (I just wonder how much of that goes back to the makers). I also recognised a number of lovely textile pieces from Oum el-Dounia, and other ephemera from the Khan, which was astronomically overpriced. In fact, it probably turns out cheaper if you fly to Cairo for them (you can also shop for cheaper online)!
I was also thrilled to see a ‘new’ display (well, it wasn’t there on my last visit in April 2014) of two very significant First Intermediate Period stelae in the BM Sculpture Gallery - both of which are key pieces in my PhD research. Back in 2009, I undertook a study of the representation of First Intermediate Period history and collections in UK museums (see here). At that time, the British Museum didn’t communicate a particularly clear or consistent view of this period (they were not alone), so was equally delighted to find a new dedicated theme panel (even if it was somewhat dramatised and the curator(s) were never aware of my work!).
Time in London wouldn’t be complete without hitting Oxford Street, although I must be getting older because I don’t seem to be able to handle the crowds like I used to! Having said that, I’ll endure it in TopShop (although didn’t bag a thing this time), but I’ll never understand Primark - that place is pure chaos.