The Sainsbury Centre presents a major new exhibition exploring the enduring appeal of ancient Egypt in art and design from the ancient past to the present day.
Over 150 works drawn from collections in the UK and internationally will examine how ancient Egypt has shaped our cultural imagination. From antiquity, when the Great Pyramid was revered as a wonder of the ancient world, to the Cleopatra of Shakespeare’s stage, this ground-breaking exhibition explores this ongoing engagement with ancient Egypt and charts its many forms across centuries of art and design. The exhibition examines how the iconic motifs and visual styles of Egypt have been re-imagined and re-invented over time – revealing a history closely entwined with conquest and colonial politics.
The exhibition coincides with the 2022 anniversaries of two key events: the bicentenary of Jean-François Champollion’s decipherment of hieroglyphs and the centenary of Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.
The exhibition will include painting, sculpture, writing, fashion and architecture, alongside photography, film and installation art. It will feature work from artists as wide ranging as Joshua Reynolds, Hector Horeau, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, David Hockney and Chris Ofili alongside works by modern and contemporary Egyptian artists, rarely exhibited in Britain.