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Egyptmania in Victoria, BC - The Province, July 20, 2004
Victoria’s All Wrapped up in Egyptmania
Story and Photos by Sue Frause
July 20, 2004
Special to The Province
Victoria is all wrapped up in Egyptmania with the unveiling of “Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from The British Museum,” which opened at the Royal BC Museum on July 10.
The exhibition, on loan from The British Museum in London, will be on display in the provincial capital through Oct. 31, 2004 before its final stop at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. It’s the first time that many of these objects will be on view outside London.
The Royal BC Museum is the only venue in western Canada and the Pacific Northwest to host this priceless exhibit of 144 masterworks from the British Museum, home to the finest collection of Egyptian art outside of Cairo.
Pauline Rafferty, CEO of the Royal BC Museum, said the museum has been preparing for the exhibition for two years. Insured for $600 million (it arrived in three airplanes), the price tag to mount the exhibit was $3 million. Rafferty is proud of the end result, which spans more than 3,000 years of culture, beginning at the time of the great pyramids and ending with the fall of Cleopatra.
Arranged chronologically throughout nine galleries, viewers can see the evolution of ancient Egyptian art, which includes stone, ivory, terracotta, wood, papyrus, glass and gold…the metal of the pharaohs.
Exhibit designer John Robertson describes the installation as “Egyptian Temple Vernacular.” The overall effect is stunning, with low lighting (no cameras allowed) and attention to detail (in one gallery a ceiling of stars has been silk-screened onto 60 panels). A dozen colors for the walls were eventually narrowed down to a trio of grey-greens, terra cottas and pale yellow-browns of Egyptian sandstone. The subtle and familiar sounding background music was in fact the same compilation used at the “Treasures of King Tutankhamen” exhibition in Seattle in 1978.
Highlights of the exhibit are numerous (a 40 minute audio tour is included in the admission price), all chosen for their rarity, beauty and historical significance. Holding center court is the 2,500-kilogram red granite lion, which once guarded the temple of Soleb. Two of the prized pieces in the exhibit are the 3,000-year-old original “Book of the Dead” papyrus scroll and the gold Mummy Mask of Satdjehuty.
Although not a part of the Royal Museum’s collection, the Mummy Room was created to highlight Egypt’s obsessions with the afterlife. On display are two real mummies from Egypt, “Nellie” from the University of Washington’s Burke Museum in Seattle and a small boy on loan from the Vancouver Museum. There are also four animal mummies and one “hand created” mummy.
An Egyptian marketplace showcases everyday life in ancient Egypt, with examples of perfume, fashion, plants and cuisine. Playing in the adjoining IMAX Theatre is “Mysteries of Egypt,” narrated by and starring Egyptian actor Omar Sharif. The 1998 film is a good overview about the construction of the great pyramids and the mysteries and legends surrounding ancient Egypt’s burial tombs (see it before the exhibition if you’re a little rusty on Egyptian history).
But all things Egyptian don’t end when you exit the Royal BC Museum. The Victoria region is a bit “mummy” crazy, with everything from the “Eternal Egypt” logo blazing on banners and buses to the creation of a special microwbrew. Hotels are offering special packages and spas are also getting into the act.
I enjoyed a sublime 90-minute “Mummy Clay Wrap” at the Delta Ocean Pointe Resort’s newly remodeled and elegant spa. The room was lit with candles while soft music played in the background. Lying on a table draped in special “people” foil, I was exfoliated and then painted with an application of clay (organic clay from Vancouver Island’s Comox Valley). After being wrapped up, I relaxed for 15 minutes (following a lavender inhalation and scalp massage). When I came back to life, I was surprised to see I was totally green! “I look like the Incredible Hulk!” I said to my spa technician, who guided me to the shower where I washed off the non-odiferous substance. After returning to the table, I was treated to a full-body lavender moisturizer.
Ah, Cleopatra never had it so good.
The Fairmont Empress is also offering special treatments at its Willow Stream Spa: the “Preserve Your Energy-Egyptian Body Wrap” and the “Fit for an Egyptian Queen Facial Experience.”
Local restaurants have caught the Egyptian craze, too. The Delta Ocean Pointe Resort offers Egyptian menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I enjoyed a guava and mango smoothie one morning (accompanied by a decadent pistachio baklava). For dinner, my husband and I dined in the lushly appointed Fairmont Empress Dining Room on a three-course menu with food representing the Egyptian era. Spinnakers Brewpub & Guesthouse (the second oldest brewpub in Canada) has come up with a special brew that will be available through the end of the year. Publican and innkeeper Paul Hadfield says that King Tut’s Tipple is a blend of malted barley, emmer wheat (from the Egyptian era), figs and star anise and it’s “reminiscent of ancient brews.”
Outside of town, the Centre of the Universe is exploring the dark skies of Ancient Egypt with “Heavens of the Pharaohs.” Twice daily the night skies of this civilization will be studied in the StarLab planetarium at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Evening events on July 23-24-25 include a multimedia presentation of Egypt and the stars, along with treasure hunts and other activities geared for children of all ages.
But possibly the most bizarre tie-in with “Eternal Egypt” is at Galey’s Farm, just minutes from downtown Victoria. The day before the opening of the exhibition at the Royal BC Museum, owner Rob Galey and a crew of workers were scrambling to complete the construction of a 1/2-scale replica of the Great Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Giza.
Galey, a 33-year-old third generation island farmer, has enlisted the expertise of two Vancouver, BC film companies, Savage Production Services and Mansueto Productions. The $500,000 project also includes the creation of the Nile River, complete with a waterfall discharging 5,000 gallons a minute; tunnels through tomb rooms complete with animatronics and robotics; and an Egyptian corn maze. All the modules were built in Vancouver, BC and reassembled at Galey’s Farm.
So what happens to the Egyptian landscape at Galey’s Farm after “Eternal Egypt” leaves town shortly after Halloween? According to Farmer Galey, all the creations will go to the highest bidder.
The pharaohs would be proud.
Sue Frause is a Whidbey Island freelance writer and photographer. She may be reached through her website at www.suefrause.com
“Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum”
Royal BC Museum, Victoria
www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
Through Oct. 31, 2004
Advance tickets on sale through the website or Tourism Victoria at 800.663.3883
Tourism Victoria
www.tourismvictoria.com
Delta Ocean Pointe Resort & Spa
www.deltahotels.com
800.667.4677
Specials: “The Mummy Package”
Fairmont Empress & Willow Stream Spa
www.fairmont.com/empress
888.705.2500
Specials: “The Egyptian Package”
Spinnakers Brewpub & Guesthouse
308 Catherine Street, Victoria
www.spinnakers.com
877.838.2739
“Heavens of the Pharaohs”
Centre of the Universe
5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria
www.cu.hia.nrc.gc.ca
250.363.8262
Galey Farms
4150 Blenkinsop Road, Victoria
www.galeyfarms.com
250.477.5713
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