Unwrapping hidden histories : An analysis of redesigns at three international Egyptian exhibitions.

Abstract

This thesis addresses the large variation in the recent redesigns of three international museums with permanent Egyptian collections: the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy; the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Netherlands; and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum in Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America. Through an analysis of the narratives each museum constructs, this thesis argues that these changes can represent a greater need for consistency in how museums address Egyptology as a discipline. The three case studies discussed here all take a different approach to their discussion of their own and a broader history, and the lack of a precedent makes it difficult to ensure that their changes are, at their core, successful. In order to preserve the sense of {esc}(3z{esc}(Bwonder{esc}(3y {esc}(Bin their visitors, comprehensive redesigns of exhibitions featuring Egyptian material culture must critically address institutional history and the effect of the discipline of Egyptology in both the past and the present.