Last Thursday night was the opening preview of Ancient Worlds at Manchester museum.
Overlooked by this glorious stag we were welcomed with glass bottled pop, pink fizz and petite pork pies and buns. Pretty much all of my favourite things in one of my favourite places.
In the introduction by Sir Richard Leese he spoke about the history of the museum and the developments in creating the three new galleries, Discovering Archaeology, Egyptian Worlds and Exploring Objects. Their focus is how we can use museum objects to tell us about people in the past, how we are today and why museums have so much "stuff".
By removing out of date partitions from the 70s the building is modernising and opening up physically but by embracing the latest technology they are also engaging people in different ways to welcome a wider audience and provide a multi sensory experience. (My friend Nat & I tested it out, details to follow in another post!)
Monkey Figurines
Amulet display showing layers of protection
The displays felt modernised, bright and busy with an importance placed on putting the objects in context telling the stories about real lives and real people making it relevant to today.
They did this by showcasing local finds alongside contemporary objects, as Sir Richard said on classifying the world through objects: "Museums are about stuff it's important what you do with it. It's what it tells us about ourselves"
