Egypt's Dispersed Heritage: views from Egypt

ARHC资助的文物挖掘项目揭示了英国在埃及的田野工作留下的巨大遗产，以及它将考古发现分发给五大洲27个国家的约350家博物馆。世界考古学的其他领域都没有如此规模的物质遗产，而古埃及仍然是世界上最受欢迎的博物馆展品之一。然而，这种殖民历史在埃及本身鲜为人知，埃及人在很大程度上被剥夺了这段历史的权利。在西方博物馆里，埃及很少是一个特定的现代国家。如果是这样的话，它通常被视为一个物品被拿走的地方，而不是一个居住着也参与并对这些发现感兴趣的社区的地方。很少有人注意到这些殖民遗产对现代埃及社区的影响，以及他们今天对这段历史的感受。外国考古代表团将古埃及文物从埃及移走和出口，以及当地社区继续被剥夺制作该国古代历史的权利，导致人们对考古学和收藏埃及藏品的博物馆有负面看法。然而，埃及有一种明显的兴趣和需求，即更好地了解外国出土的文物是如何出口的，以及它们现在在哪里。这个Impact项目是为了确保埃及人从我们基于英国的关于他们遗产传播的调查结果中受益，促进和提高关于这些收藏品和历史的国际对话和知识交流的能力，并改变和增强围绕他们的埃及叙事。与此同时，我们希望改变英国对现代埃及对其遗产的兴趣的认识。我们的传播计划、文化活动、艺术回应和博物馆展览--与社区合作伙伴共同开发--将增加埃及对出口条件的了解，以及文物离开埃及后发生了什么。为了实现这一目标，我们将把我们的主要调查结果翻译成埃及阿拉伯语并使其可用，并为特定的受众量身定做。这些观众包括文物部和旅游部官员、博物馆馆长、大学工作人员和学生，以及学童、家庭、普通公众和经济地位较低的社区。此外，这些活动将为埃及人自己提供一个更具参与性的平台，表达他们对这段历史的想法和反应。这将包括由国际博物馆理事会埃及出版的专业博物馆手册，为记者举行的新闻发布会，以及为埃及学校特别委托的教育包(通过埃及慈善机构Education Me)。它将包括社交媒体活动，通过问答直播会议、博客和在线漫画叙事。与埃及文化非政府组织的伙伴关系，包括El Sawy文化轮、Mahatat for当代艺术和Tawasol，将使我们能够共同开发创新的创意回应，接触并赋予那些传统上可能不会参观博物馆的观众的权利。反过来，这些文化活动将有助于激励独立的埃及艺术家，我们将委托他们创作小型艺术作品，这些作品可以伴随着一个流动的临时展览，该展览将被设计成在埃及和英国方便安装和运输。后者将挑战有关现代埃及的假设，将这些埃及艺术家与英国博物馆(埃及考古皮特里博物馆、苏格兰国家博物馆和利物浦世界博物馆)合作，这将为他们提供前往英国展览和分享他们作品的机会。

The ARHC-funded Artefacts of Excavation project revealed the expansive legacy of British fieldwork in Egypt and its distribution of archaeological finds to around 350 museums, in 27 countries, across 5 continents. No other area of world archaeology has a material legacy on this scale and 'ancient Egypt' remains one of the most popular types of museum exhibit worldwide. Yet that colonial history of dispersal is little known in Egypt itself and Egyptians have largely been disenfranchised from it. In Western museums, Egypt is rarely a specific modern country. If it is, it is generally seen as a place from where objects are taken, rather than a place populated with living communities also engaged and interested in these finds. Little attention has been given to the impact of these colonial legacies on modern Egyptian communities and how they feel about this history today. The removal and export of ancient Egyptian objects from Egypt by foreign archaeological missions, and the continued disenfranchisement of local communities from the production of the country's ancient history, has led to negative perceptions of archaeology and museums hosting Egyptian collections. There is, however, a demonstrable interest and demand in Egypt for better information about how artefacts excavated by foreign countries were exported and where they are now. This impact project is to ensure that Egyptians benefit from our UK-based findings on the dispersal of their heritage, to foster and increase capacity for international dialogue and knowledge exchange about these collections and histories, and to transform and empower Egyptian narratives around them. At the same time we wish to transform awareness in the UK of modern Egyptian interest in its heritage.Our programme of dissemination, cultural events, artistic responses and museum exhibitions - co-developed with community partners - will increase understanding in Egypt about the conditions of export and what happened to artefacts once they had left the country. To achieve this we will translate and make accessible our key findings into Egyptian Arabic and tailor it for specific audiences. These audiences include the Ministry of Antiquities and Ministry of Tourism officials, museum curators, university staff and students, as well as school children, families, the general public and lower economic status communities. Moreover, these activities will provide a more participatory platform for Egyptians themselves to articulate their own thoughts and responses to this history. This will include a professional museum manual published by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Egypt, press briefings for journalists and specially commissioned education packs for Egyptian schools (through Egyptian charity EducateMe). It will encompass social media activity, through Q&A live sessions, blogs and online comic narratives. Partnerships with Egyptian cultural NGOs, including El Sawy Culture Wheel, Mahatat for Contemporary Art and Tawasol, will allow us co-develop innovative creative responses to reach and enfranchise those audiences that might not traditionally visit museums. These cultural events, in turn, will help to inspire independent Egyptian artists who we will commission to produce small artistic works that can accompany a mobile temporary exhibition that will be designed for easy installation and transport in Egypt and the UK. The latter will challenge assumptions regarding modern Egypt by partnering these Egyptian artists with UK Museums (the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, National Museums Scotland and Liverpool World Museum), which will provide them with the opportunity to travel to the UK to exhibit and share their works.