Written by Gerald Bolton Thursday, 10 February 2011 22:01

While The Fate Of Modern Egypt Hangs In The Balance ~ Exhibitions Worldwide Continue To Show Egypt's Culture

While The Fate Of Modern Egypt Hangs In The Balance ~ Exhibitions Worldwide Continue To Show Egypt's Culture but could do nothing for fear of alerting the Germans that their "enigma" code had been broken), rebuilt after the war, the city became a victim of industrial decline and was memorably summed up in the 1980s by the Specials song; "Ghost Town". It is rather apt then, that in the midst of turmoil in Egypt, the city's Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is about to open a new exhibition: "Secret Egypt - Unravelling Truth from Myth". This brand new exhibition opens on 11th of February, and allows visitors to investigate the truth behind some of the most popular myths about ancient Egypt amongst displays that bring together over 200 objects from some of the most important Egyptian collections in the country.

These include an amazing colossus statue from the British Museum, a rare head of Queen Nefertiti from the Ashmolean, crocodile mummies from Bolton Museum and a gold pendant from Manchester Museum discovered by archaeologists in the hands of an ancient robber trapped in a collapsed tomb. At the climax of the exhibition visitors are invited to explore a recreated tomb, answering ' Why were the ancient Egyptians obsessed with death?' The display includes an offering chapel and a mummy of a woman called Perenbast. This is a great example of the care and respect given during the preparations for passing into the eternal life. The exhibition will display many treasures previously unseen by the public including from the Birmingham Museum collections.

The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, named after Sir Alfred Herbert, a local industrialist who donated £100,000 to the City of Coventry to pay for the construction of an Art Gallery and Museum opened in1960, and was recently extended with a stunning design by architects Pringle Richards Sharratt. The Visual Arts collection consists of approximately 5200 items, including paintings, drawings, prints, textiles, sculptures, ceramics, and works in new media. Many of these are topographical views. The original policy of the gallery in 1957 was to collect mainly British Life and Landscape art. Amongst their artworks are works by J. M. W. Turner, L. S.Lowry and other major British artists. A number of major works have also been collected in the areas of British watercolours, British twentieth century painting and British figure drawing. Eastern European and Far Eastern works were acquired from 1959. The original policy was altered again in 1963 when abstract art first began to be collected. Visit the museum's website at: http://www.theherbert.org