Visions of Ancient Egypt: ‘a blockbuster having a breakdown’
The exhibition marks the centenary of archaeologist Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb

More than 2,000 years after its collapse, ancient Egyptian civilisation “continues to fascinate us”, said Aimee Dawson in The Art Newspaper.
Yet much of what we understand about this lost world and its “pharaohs, hidden treasures and unsolved mysteries” is wide of the mark; indeed, as a new exhibition at Norwich’s Sainsbury Centre argues, our vision of ancient Egypt is largely a fantasy created by a particular kind of “Western colonial mindset” and propagated by successive waves of superpowers, from the Romans to the British to the film studios of the USA.
Marking the centenary of the archaeologist Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, the show attempts to “untangle” the ways in which Egypt’s image has been shaped by the West: from sculpture and painting to fashion and architecture, outsiders have raided and exploited this most fruitful source of historical inspiration.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The exhibition brings together more than 200 objects, from ancient artefacts to classic 19th century Orientalist paintings, to works by contemporary Egyptian artists that explore the aesthetic clichés surrounding their country.There’s no shortage of “gems” here, said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. Alas, they have been cobbled together in the service of a thesis which lumps 2,000 years of fascination with Egypt “into one unbroken wall of Western prejudice”.
Western racism towards Egypt began, the show argues, with the Roman defeat of Cleopatra, and still persists today. There are some lurid expressions of Egyptomania on display here, certainly, such as Edwin Long’s “ridiculous” Victorian painting of an ancient Egyptian harem. Yet many exhibits kick against that simplistic thesis.
A marvellous depiction of the emperor Diocletian dressed as a pharaoh is surely an instance of the two “cultures interacting”. Likewise, Sir John Soane’s “intoxicated” studies of Egyptian architecture, from the early 19th century, show why he saw it as superior to European classicism. “This exhibition wants us to stop our love affair with this lost world but it can’t.” It’s “a blockbuster having a breakdown”.
Well, the idea is to illuminate the “fantasy” of ancient Egypt, said Alastair Sooke in The Daily Telegraph. So there’s a Joshua Reynolds portrait of the 18th century courtesan Kitty Fisher dressed up as Cleopatra next to a still of Elizabeth Taylor playing the same character in the 1963 Hollywood epic. Neither tells us much about Cleopatra herself, but both speak volumes about her “afterlife as a sybaritic temptress”.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Even so, there’s an unappealing air of sanctimony to the proceedings: many depictions of ancient Egypt do indeed “reflect vexed colonial values”, but to be “sniffy” about this while attempting to entertain an audience with the same material seems “hypocritical”. “Engaging” as it is, this is a missed opportunity.
Sainsbury's Centre, Norwich. Until 1 January 2023
-
Six major costs to cut as children go back to school
School supplies can be pricey but there are ways to keep costs down
-
Millet: Life on the Land – an 'absorbing' exhibition
The Week Recommends Free exhibition at the National Gallery showcases the French artist's moving paintings of rural life
-
Scientists are speeding up evolution
Under the radar Proteins can evolve in minutes
-
Millet: Life on the Land – an 'absorbing' exhibition
The Week Recommends Free exhibition at the National Gallery showcases the French artist's moving paintings of rural life
-
Thomasina Miers picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The food writer shares works by Arundhati Roy, Claire Keegan and Charles Dickens
-
6 laid-back homes for surfers
Feature Featuring a home near a world-renowned surf spot in Hawaii and a house built to withstand the elements in South Carolina
-
Twelfth Night or What You Will: a 'riotous' late-summer jamboree
The Week Recommends Robin Belfield's 'carnivalesque' new staging at Shakespeare's Globe is 'joyfully tongue-in-cheek'
-
Hostage: Netflix's 'fun, fast and brash potboiler'
The Week Recommends Suranne Jones is 'relentlessly defiant' as prime minister Abigail Dalton
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitions
Feature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant