Milan, Tutankhamun exhibition restarts at Palazzo Reale, with extension until Aug. 30

Among the many exhibitions suspended or postponed by theCoronavirus emergency is Journey Beyond Darkness. Tutankhamun RealExperience, the immersive-experience exhibition that aims to chronicle the journey beyond darkness of the most famous pharaoh and illustrate the ancient Egyptians’ conception of the afterlife. Initially scheduled from March 5 to June 14, the event is now scheduled from May 28 to August 30, also at the Royal Palace in Milan.

Journey Beyond Darkness. Tutankhamun RealExperience addresses the theme of the mystery of death and the afterlife with the intention of restoring the complexity and plurality that characterized Egyptian civilization. Visitors will be confronted with an innovative conception of a civilization of which they mistakenly believe they know many aspects, and they will have the opportunity to discover how much Western thought owes to it, thanks to the use of two different exhibition languages that narrate the journey beyond the darkness of the pharaoh and his subjects. After an introductory video, the archaeological section, with works selected by Francesco Tiradritti, describes the otherworldly beliefs of the Egyptians through objects deemed necessary for otherworldly survival, conceived as a continuation of everyday survival. Ancient monuments and objects can be admired for their historical and artistic significance, but also as evidence of the expectations and fears, not too dissimilar to our own, that people who lived thousands of years ago felt when faced with the mystery of the unknown.

The artifacts that are on display come mainly from Milan’s Civic Collections and the National Archaeological Museum in Florence. For the first time and reunited is the so-called "Busca trousseau," which includes the mummy and sarcophagus, preserved in the Civic Collections, and a very interesting 7-meter-long papyrus, datable to the 19th-20th dynasty, recovered shortly before 1850 by Marquis Carlo Busca during his excavations and preserved in theArchives of the Ospedale Maggiore in Milan. Also on display are several artifacts from private collections.

Especially important among the exhibits is the splendid statue of the god Amun, with the likeness of the young Tutankhamun, on loan from the Fritz Beherens Foundation and the August Kestner Museum in Hanover. Also admirable are the two heads of funerary figurines attributable to the controversial figure of ruler Akhenaten (1350 -1333 B.C.), Tutankhamun’s father and to whom is owed a religious reform considered by many to be the first form of monotheistic belief in history. Also on view will be, a rare relief fragment from the mastaba of Seshemnefer (VI) Heba (6th Dynasty, reign of Djedkara Isesi; 2388 - 2356 B.C.), in Saqqara. The brilliance of the colors preserved to this day fully restores the magnificence and charm of the austere and delicate art of the period.

After the display of ancient artifacts, illustrated in a nimble catalog published by Laboratoriorosso and edited by Francesco Tiradritti, the exhibition becomes entirely multimedia, divided into two different environments: in the first, thanks to the extraordinary images that have come down to us, the visitor can retrace the distinctive features of the civilization that established itself for millennia on the banks of the Nile, starting from Thebes and then delving into the Valley of the Kings. He is then guided by Howard Carter to the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and its extraordinary funerary equipment. In a second immersive environment it will be Tutankhamun himself who will guide the visitor on the journey through the night to conquer immortality.

The multisensory experience is built with images and animations that also come from tombs and objects from other eras of Egyptian history. As a result, the journey takes on an absolute value in the universe ofPharaonic Egypt, representing the journey of all of Tutankhamun’s predecessors and successors. The perpetual traversal of the dark regions was felt as an obligation for the ruler who sacrificed his own resurrection in order to board the solar boat so that the dawn could perpetually repeat itself day after day. The twelve hours of night were fraught with dangers that could only be overcome by the incarnation of the sun god Ra with the ruler of the dead Osiris.

To facilitate the visit of an international audience all exhibition audio, both in the archaeological part and in the immersive rooms is in Italian, English, French and German. To the same theme developed in the multimedia part of the exhibition is dedicated an illustrated volume published by Taschen, edited by Sandro Vannini with the collaboration of Mohamed Megahed.

On the initiative of the City of Milan|Culture, Journey Beyond Darkness. Tutankhamun RealExperience is linked to the exhibition at the Civic Archaeological Museum of Milan, Under the Sky of Nut. Divine Egypt, which opened to the public on Saturday, May 30 at the same time as the museum reopened following the health emergency. Produced and organized by the Civic Archaeological Museum of Milan, the exhibition investigates the invisible and elusive nature of the gods, entering the spiritual and conceptual universe of the Egyptian civilization, which elaborated in an original way its own vision of the cosmos and the role in it reserved as much for man as for the gods. The exhibition itinerary has more than 150 works and allows visitors to enter the world of the divine in Egypt through bronze, stone and faïence sculptures, votive reliefs, sarcophagi, mummies and elements of the funerary accoutrements that accompanied the deceased to the Afterlife.

Under the new scheduled hours until June 21, the Archaeological Museum will be open on Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Entry will be allowed for 15 people every 30 minutes, subject to reservations (also mandatory for free-of-charge holders) and ticket purchase on the http://museicivicimilano.vivaticket.it platform. Full details on the access schedule and visitor regulations are posted on the institutional website, www.museoarcheologicomilano.it. Other recommended contact details are the telephone number 199.15.11.21, the e-mail address mostre@civita.it and the official website of the exhibition, which can be found here.

Pictured: Papyrus Busca, detail (c. 1300 B.C.; height 18.5 x 671 cm; Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore)

Milan, Tutankhamun exhibition restarts at Palazzo Reale, with extension until Aug. 30

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