Thread by @heritage_lizzie

Looking forward to listening in to #PerformingTut today from @UoBEgyptology @EllieCDobson - round table intros kicking off with @fkeshk Elizabeth Frood @GriffithOxford @danielarosenow & @RichardParkins5 @UniofOxford

Elizabeth Frood talks about the colourisation process of Tutankhamun in Colour & creation myths flagged by @photograph_tut in retellings of the discovery. Nothing surpasses an encounter with the objects themselves - & there are so many stories we will explore today #PerformingTut

Next @RichardParkins5 talks about @bodleianlibs #ExcavatingtheArchive exhibition - moving beyond imperial nostalgia & the ‘Downton Abbey’ popular gold approach. Looking at the archives. Shifting the paradigm from treasure to a much more complex historical process. #PerformingTut

Here’s a few tweets from my visit to the @bodleianlibs exhibition #PerformingTut

#PerformingTut

#PerformingTut

Just one more for now (more at #Tutankhamun100) #PerformingTut - we are now listening to @danielarosenow of @GriffithOxford who co-curated the @bodleianlibs exhibition talking about the value of archaeological archives. Objects can be often devoid of context.

Last @bodleianlibs case is looking at the impact of the discovery. Selling King Tut, influencing thinking, inspiring future work. #PerformingTut

Here’s the letter to Howard Carter @danielarosenow mentions #PerformingTut

And some of the ‘selling the discovery’ items from the time #PerformingTut @bodleianlibs

Some exciting activities coming up at @UniofOxford @bodleianlibs over the summer & autumn @danielarosenow flags #PerformingTut

Interesting reflections from colleagues in the the #PerformingTut roundtable that excavations happened within their own time, we can’t judge it in black & white. What we can do now is move on - both learning from the past & uncovering/articulating more stories.

The afternoon at #PerformingTut is now kicking off with @KingMaiken on Assassin’s Creed Origins

There is a role for #Tutankhamun in Assassin’s Creed as the restorer of order in contrast with the Heretic King Akhenaten. Only meaningful in relation to each other. Based on scholarship perspectives but an agenda as part of the game. #PerformingTut @KingMaiken

Use of the mask to identify Tutankhamun as recognisable but the strong & powerful depiction is not true to reality though necessary for the powerful avenger persona in the game. #PerformingTut

Reception upon reception. The mummy as avenger is based on Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra. The curse theme serves as a critique of tomb robbery & theft of antiquities. #PerformingTut @KingMaiken

Next up @DrRamyHammady bringing his expertise on computer science & mixed reality to increase engagement and dwell times at @EgyptianMuseumC #PerformingTut

Participant & visitor observation to get a sense of habits. Experiments at @LeedsCityMuseum to compare to @EgyptianMuseumC #PerformingTut

Experiments with VR for use in museum setting. Bringing collections alive. #PerformingTut

Aim is for Museum Eye not to distract from the authentic piece but to engage. Interaction, accessibility, narration. #PerformingTut @DrRamyHammady

Process of refinement & testing #PerformingTut

Interesting results in terms of dwell times, engagement & interest for younger demographics. Mixed reality can enhance the museum experience. #PerformingTut @DrRamyHammady

A challenge posed around the use of these sorts of technologies for improved experience & engagement in the future by @DrRamyHammady #PerformingTut

Last talk in this session is about SEN friendly, interactive & affordable portable resources for KS2 to teach about Howard Carter. Active rather than passive learning. Child-led. A mix of props & replicas as clues. Group work. Story focused. #PerformingTut

Engaging with key replicas & props that serve as prompts for discussion - keys (carter’s temperament), trowel (archaeologists), paint (artist), seed (canary), candle etc.. #PerformingTut

Opportunity also to teach chronology. Engage with ideas from the past (telegram - time taken to wait, exclusivity of Times & challenge with this, curse origin…). Engaged kids producing their own records. Challenge - how do we bring in other voices in the future? #PerformingTut

Supplementary activities - putting themselves in the position. Next steps - outreach. Work with correspondents, creative writing. #PerformingTut

Here’s a few books we’ve enjoyed that connect to the topic for kids #PerformingTut

Waving from computer screen also to @art_egyptology & other #TeawiththeSphinx buddies I’ve spotted in the room. #PerformingTut

Sharing a couple of old @Culture_Baby posts when my girls were little to bring Egypt alive culture-baby.net/2013/07/all-ab… - with @AshmoleanMuseum hands on activities & culture-baby.net/2014/06/keepin… with @britishmuseum plus making your own museum culture-baby.net/2016/09/the-mu… #PerformingTut

Another participant has shared this Workshop idea too: trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/… #PerformingTut

Next up today - the session on Readers, Writers & Consumers #PerformingTut - is kicked off by Jose dad Candeias Sales & Susana Mota on Tutankhamun in Portugal

News reported in Portuguese press, during period of national political challenge, is assessed. Much was sent from elsewhere. Seeming disinterest but contradicted by the space given by newspapers to it. Focus on ‘Know the Past, ‘Cherish the Past’ & ‘Fear the Past’ #PerformingTut

First - know facts, gaps etc… 2nd - cherish the past - looking at beauty of objects, great archaeology, excitement & engagement of public. Profusion of images. #PerformingTut

Finally topic - ‘fear the past’ - used a lot… mysteries, superstition, revenge, threat, magic etc… the curse narrative associated with fear, revenge & desecration. #PerformingTut

Tutankhamun was a means through which the Portuguese engaged with Ancient Egypt & brought it closer & into arts & culture. #PerformingTut

Next is @KamaBraulinska on the babies in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Lots of newspaper coverage on the topic & the relationship to Tutankhamun. Also reference to @MaidstoneMuseum finding of a child rather than a hawk in their collection through scanning. #PerformingTut

Story at @MaidstoneMuseum went viral similarly a case at @swanseamuseum - another case also went viral of a ‘pregnant mummy’ (not the case) in Poland. Resonance with the discoveries in Tutankhamun’s tomb. #PerformingTut

Some reports prefer the sensation to the truth in these stories. The two children from the tomb are an intriguing influence on both science and media. #PerformingTut

Final presentation in this section @SummerRose721 from @UCLarchaeology on the commodification & branding of Tutankhamun - beginning with the exclusive contract with the Times. Made ‘Tut’ a Western product to sell. Spink and Sons auction - first to capitalise. #PerformingTut

Characteristics of some recent Blockbusters. Overtly political, targeted to large audience, aesthetics & power/drama, multiple locations, sponsorship, media coverage, narrative, exclusivity. Associated with sales of products - highly curated. Tut can be bought. #PerformingTut

Subject of parties, special access, re-enactments, exclusivity. Drama, exclusivity, commercialisation. Tut can be obtained for the right price. This continues into the international auction market. Auction as performance & marketplace for re-telling #PerformingTut

Even tenuous connections to Tutankhamun can add premiums to auctions. Tut™️ has become a brand. Presented as a common heritage, luxury, commodity. Tut as separated from Tutankhamun. Images of gold, treasure - commanding high prices. #PerformingTut

Here’s the Steve Martin piece #PerformingTut

The discussion on Portuguese reporting at #PerformingTut reminds me of this slide from #Sphinx17

And this talk on Lovecraft from #Sphinx18 #PerformingTut

Final session of the #PerformingTut afternoon - Artistic responses, past and present. On ‘Revenge of the Pharaohs: the lost 1924 film biography of Howard Carter’. Daniel also researches the misuse of Ancient Egypt in Third Reich narratives. #PerformingTut

Carnarvon v interested in the idea of a motion picture but this disappeared after his death. Filmmakers capitalised on the interest. Often looking to the bible. Props to hand included copies of Nefertiti’s bust from Berlin & copies of Tutankhamun’s tomb furniture #PerformingTut

Also influenced by art of #AlmaTadema #PerformingTut

There was a major film created with Carter & Carnarvon as a subject but not naming them because of rights. #PerformingTut

A story of the wealthy lord who travels to Egypt & is permitted to excavate, including Egyptian nationalists who try to stop the digging. #PerformingTut

The film is sadly lost but stills fortunately exist… a story of nationalists trying to thwart an excavation, discovery of treasure, a love story, fighting etc.. #PerformingTut

The attention to detail from the tomb is meticulous. (Picture 3). #PerformingTut

Reference to the ITV recent ‘biographical’ story (inaccurate as it was) follows in the vein of the narrative about the discover through the eyes of Carter, Carnarvon & Evelyn. #PerformingTut

Next up is Deena Mohamed, an Egyptian comic writer - her graphic novel is about bottles with wishes you can buy from the cheap to the expensive, granting wishes from the inferior to first class. In the story a relative investigates the genesis of the product. #PerformingTut

Deena talks about the influence of @EgyptianMuseumC on her work. School children go to the museum, learn about the discovery but less about the tomb & Tutankhamun himself. Did a lot of visual research including videos. #PerformingTut @itsdeenasaur

Fictional world had to be an agglomeration - not specific to a particular pharaoh. Used Seti/Ramessides for scale. Egyptologists in 1950s - fictional - can remove items but not bodies. Discover not perfume but a wish mine. #PerformingTut

Great to bring the story back to an Egyptian origin for the wishes at the end of the trilogy & also go & see the tomb itself after finishing the book. #PerformingTut @itsdeenasaur

Finally Sara Sallam, Egyptian artist based in the Netherlands. Reflecting on the version of Egypt she met in Europe. Observation journey. Contradictory themes coexisting together. Eg nature of the cemetery & different experiences & behaviours depending on age. #PerformingTut

Using collage focused on her grandmother Sara explored by projecting images into ancient contexts the differing treatment of these memorials. Do we really perceive the ancients as human ancestors to be mourned? #PerformingTut

This led to more academic work on dehumanisation of mummies via photos and film. #PerformingTut

Film essays accompany chapters & look at the reinvigoration of the mummy as either to be feared, a pitiful creature to be controlled, then mummy as monster. A 2nd death as mummy on screen - devoid of emotion from mummy. Requires little empathy from us. #PerformingTut

Next she focuses on a mummy’s perspective on their own treatment using a film essay of reflection. #PerformingTut

The latest work “I prayed for the Resin not to Melt” will be here sarasallam.com along with her other work #PerformingTut

A fantastic, energising afternoon at #PerformingTut - lots of food for thought & research & some refreshing research & perspectives. Thanks to the organisers @EllieCDobson @UoBEgyptology Spice enjoyed it too. 🐈‍⬛