British Museum to showcase treasures of Sudan in first Africa 2005 exhibition
The British Museum's Africa 2005 programme is to kick off this month with an exhibition on the ancient civilisation of Sudan.
Three years in the planning, the BM's exhibition Sudan: Ancient Treasures was originally hoped to coincide with the signing of a peace agreement between north and south Sudan. Instead, the exhibition will go ahead during the ongoing genocide in Darfur, western Sudan.
Neil MacGregor, the director of the BM, said it was important to look beyond the immediate crisis to the longer term. 'It is more important than ever to think about the complexities of Sudan, from the earliest time to the contemporary. We hope that the exhibition will allow everyone to think about Sudan and its long, complex history,' he said.
All 320 of the objects in the exhibition are on loan from the National Museum of Khartoum. Many will be on display for the first time outside Sudan. The objects date from 200,000 BC up to the present day. They include sculpture, gold statues and jewellery, pottery, maps, plans and photographs.
The exhibition will culminate with a display about the current major threat to Sudan's archaeology. The construction of a new dam to help bring a much needed source of electricity has been planned since 1943, but it will flood the Merowe area of the Nile Valley by 2008. The BM is involved in the rescue mission headed by the museum in Khartoum.
Derek Welsby, one of the curators of the exhibition, said that through the exhibition and the wider Sudan programme, visitors would become more aware of the largest country in Africa. For a long time, Sudan has been eclipsed by its better-known neighbour, Egypt, but Egypt was at times ruled by Sudan. In addition, Welsby said that it is a little known fact that Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt.
An organised trail of the BM's 440 Sudanese objects within its permanent galleries will be available to visitors during the exhibition period.
The museum is waiving the £5 entrance fee to visitors, suggesting instead that donations be made to Oxfam and Save the Children.
The exhibition is unsponsored but supported through the museum's education budget.
It will run until the beginning of January 2005 and then it is hoped it will travel to the US and other countries.
The British Museum's Africa 2005 programme is to kick off this month with an exhibition on the ancient civilisation of Sudan.
Three years in the planning, the BM's exhibition Sudan: Ancient Treasures was originally hoped to coincide with the signing of a peace agreement between north and south Sudan. Instead, the exhibition will go ahead during the ongoing genocide in Darfur, western Sudan.
Neil MacGregor, the director of the BM, said it was important to look beyond the immediate crisis to the longer term. 'It is more important than ever to think about the complexities of Sudan, from the earliest time to the contemporary. We hope that the exhibition will allow everyone to think about Sudan and its long, complex history,' he said.
All 320 of the objects in the exhibition are on loan from the National Museum of Khartoum. Many will be on display for the first time outside Sudan. The objects date from 200,000 BC up to the present day. They include sculpture, gold statues and jewellery, pottery, maps, plans and photographs.
The exhibition will culminate with a display about the current major threat to Sudan's archaeology. The construction of a new dam to help bring a much needed source of electricity has been planned since 1943, but it will flood the Merowe area of the Nile Valley by 2008. The BM is involved in the rescue mission headed by the museum in Khartoum.
Derek Welsby, one of the curators of the exhibition, said that through the exhibition and the wider Sudan programme, visitors would become more aware of the largest country in Africa. For a long time, Sudan has been eclipsed by its better-known neighbour, Egypt, but Egypt was at times ruled by Sudan. In addition, Welsby said that it is a little known fact that Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt.
An organised trail of the BM's 440 Sudanese objects within its permanent galleries will be available to visitors during the exhibition period.
The museum is waiving the £5 entrance fee to visitors, suggesting instead that donations be made to Oxfam and Save the Children.
The exhibition is unsponsored but supported through the museum's education budget.
It will run until the beginning of January 2005 and then it is hoped it will travel to the US and other countries.
