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
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.
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
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
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
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
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. 🐈⬛
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Good morning from the Albert Dock in Liverpool where I’m attending the @dannyinsteam Maritime Heritage Maritime Futures youth engagement event with @henryseasteam56
Hearing from @dannyinsteam following 1st yr of @HeritageFundUK programme on youth engagement. The Danny was at risk of being broken up & has been restored & used as part of a youth skills & training programme. Supporting confidence & community. Pride & interest generated.
“There are places I remember, all my life, though some have changed…” an exceptionally moving blue plaque unveiling this morning for #GeorgeHarrison at his birthplace, with a speech from his wife Olivia. A once in a lifetime privilege. Well done @HistoricEngland Thread🧵👇
We began with a special tour of places associated with #GeorgeHarrison & The Beatles. There’s the pub associated with Ringo, John’s house (under renovation by @nationaltrust) & Paul’s house. Great to spend time with @Conservators_UK Emma, @Ecclesiastical Laura & @bernarddonoghue
Good morning from our @Heritage_NGOs member @DelapreAbbey who are hosting @archaeologyuk & @HistoricEngland #WellbeingandHeritage Conference. Follow along here for a few reflections on the day. Looking forward to hearing from lots of our members today throughout the programme.
Following intros from @DelapreAbbey CEO Richard Clinton & @HistoricEngland Linda Monckton we are hearing from @RedfernNeil on how we need to embed this into what our orgs do in the future. 80+ contributions. So much interest. Think about what we need to help our work thrive?
A real treat to visit @EastnorCastle today on a joint @Heritage_NGOs @Historic_Houses trip - huge thanks to James & the family for welcoming us & showing us round this extraordinary site. Come & have a look round… 👇
As the founder of the Heritage Fuels Alliance, a @Heritage_NGOs member, James has a couple of traction engines (early lorries). We chatted about issues with coal supplies for the tiny amount needed to keep these heritage vehicles running. The last mine in Wales is closing.
As a teen James started to restore a mill on the estate. With support from Defra & Natural England Funding around 2010 the workings were able to be restored & the mill is now beginning to be used to produce heritage flour. We met a farmer who brings grain to be milled.
Good morning from the @SocAntiquaries for the 50th anniversary of Protecting Wrecks with @InstituteArch @HistoricEngland @PlymUni @MSDSMarine - we are joined by @DCMS Heritage Minister Lord Parkinson
Lord Parkinson talks about the density of wrecks off our coast as an important part of our heritage & growing up fascinated by maritime stories in the North East. The 1973 Act alongside other designation options remains v important. Came from a PMB & now 57 wreck designations.
Christopher Dobbs talks to us about 45 years of wreck diving #POW50 & the human stories behind what is found. Mary Rose excavation included 500 divers. Sometimes threats are unexpected to wreck sites.
Our Chair Ingrid Samuel kicks off #HeritageDebate2023 posing the questions around heritage careers - what are the challenges & what do we do well? We want to hear about both. We have a great panel covering a range of angles.
We are taking a look at some of the great advice from the many letters that came in from heritage professionals to support debate theheritagealliance.org.uk/heritagedebate…