After a 23-year development phase, Egypt has finally unveiled the $1.2bn (£910m) Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), complete with over 100,000 pharaonic artefacts, providing a rich insight into Egyptian history.
The opening ceremony was attended by dignitaries from over 80 countries, including King Felipe of Spain, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Queen Rania of Jordan. The opening ceremony consisted of a spectacular display of fireworks, drone shows and live performers that celebrated and displayed Egyptian art and history all against the backdrop of the Great Pyramids of Giza – highlighting a legendary conceptualisation of Egyptian history. This demonstrates how the museum was a means for Egypt to display and showcase its soft power on the global stage; the high density of foreign leaders who appeared evidences the necessity of the grand opening as a global experience and event to emphasise such soft power internationally.
The museum includes an array of ancient artefacts and exists as part of a broader revival, tourist programme, and infrastructure boost in the Giza plateau. Through the grandeur associated with such a project it feels as though Egypt is attempting to etch the GEM into the gold standard of museums alongside the Met, Louvre, and British Museum. This arguably hints at a broader sense of Egyptian inferiority, as they attempt to reclaim their historical position of global prowess and cultural superiority, therefore highlighting the centrality of their flourishing history and culture to other nations’ global perception.
Furthermore, tourism is said to make up 12 per cent of Egypt’s GDP, and with the country being in a state of crisis – debt, inflationary pressure, and high youth unemployment – it is integral they expand such a sector. The museum seems to appeal to a tourist’s vision of Egypt that is incongruent with its current status, highlighting the vitality of a nation’s global appearance towards their own self-perception.
The museum can also be viewed as an attempt for Egypt to reclaim its own history, and shed this history of its Eurocentric, imperialist associations. The ceremony gave credit for the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb to Hussein Abdel over Howard Carter, and the GEM more broadly replaced the Tahrir Museum – which was founded in 1902 under French Colonial Egyptologist Gaston Maspero – as the nation’s primary museum. Whilst many artefacts still remain in other ex-colonial nations possession (the British Museum is infamous for this), Egypt can be seen to be reclaiming their own history, demonstrating the merging of culture, history and political contours. Here Egypt is arguably trying to re-center their own selfhood whilst evidencing how culture inherently forges political contours, as Egypt attempts to shift away from European history.
There are, however, complexities in what is displayed, and what is largely left untouched within the museum. Within the museum Nubia, Arabic, and Coptic history are largely ignored despite their contributions and important place within Egyptian history. Additionally, the museum is primarily filled with elite objects, such as artifacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb; the story of Egyptian elites is what is emphasised and presented. This demonstrates how Museums often exist as a place to display strands of history and culture that are considered attractive. Constructing a history of Ancient Egypt through its mythical history of Pharaohs, tombs, and hieroglyphs allows the nation to reclaim its international status and construct a sense of global greatness, at the cost of ignoring other strands. Such construction and re-emphasis of an Egypt that is primarily in contact with its elite and ancient roots demonstrates how national identity is increasingly being tailored towards foreign perceptions of the nation in an attempt to bolster tourism. This also demonstrates how political the culture sector can be through observing what is not shown, displayed, or celebrated.
Throughout the GEM’s opening we can see how politically charged the cultural sector can become, as the project seems to mainly consist of Egypt’s attempt to reemphasise its global grandeur and reclaim its own history at the expense of disregarding the history of marginalised groups.
“GEM – Grand Egyptian Museum” by Ronald Douglas Frazier is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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The new Grand Egyptian Museum: a chance to reclaim history?
After a 23-year development phase, Egypt has finally unveiled the $1.2bn (£910m) Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), complete with over 100,000 pharaonic artefacts, providing a rich insight into Egyptian history.
The opening ceremony was attended by dignitaries from over 80 countries, including King Felipe of Spain, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Queen Rania of Jordan. The opening ceremony consisted of a spectacular display of fireworks, drone shows and live performers that celebrated and displayed Egyptian art and history all against the backdrop of the Great Pyramids of Giza – highlighting a legendary conceptualisation of Egyptian history. This demonstrates how the museum was a means for Egypt to display and showcase its soft power on the global stage; the high density of foreign leaders who appeared evidences the necessity of the grand opening as a global experience and event to emphasise such soft power internationally.
The museum includes an array of ancient artefacts and exists as part of a broader revival, tourist programme, and infrastructure boost in the Giza plateau. Through the grandeur associated with such a project it feels as though Egypt is attempting to etch the GEM into the gold standard of museums alongside the Met, Louvre, and British Museum. This arguably hints at a broader sense of Egyptian inferiority, as they attempt to reclaim their historical position of global prowess and cultural superiority, therefore highlighting the centrality of their flourishing history and culture to other nations’ global perception.
Furthermore, tourism is said to make up 12 per cent of Egypt’s GDP, and with the country being in a state of crisis – debt, inflationary pressure, and high youth unemployment – it is integral they expand such a sector. The museum seems to appeal to a tourist’s vision of Egypt that is incongruent with its current status, highlighting the vitality of a nation’s global appearance towards their own self-perception.
The museum can also be viewed as an attempt for Egypt to reclaim its own history, and shed this history of its Eurocentric, imperialist associations. The ceremony gave credit for the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb to Hussein Abdel over Howard Carter, and the GEM more broadly replaced the Tahrir Museum – which was founded in 1902 under French Colonial Egyptologist Gaston Maspero – as the nation’s primary museum. Whilst many artefacts still remain in other ex-colonial nations possession (the British Museum is infamous for this), Egypt can be seen to be reclaiming their own history, demonstrating the merging of culture, history and political contours. Here Egypt is arguably trying to re-center their own selfhood whilst evidencing how culture inherently forges political contours, as Egypt attempts to shift away from European history.
There are, however, complexities in what is displayed, and what is largely left untouched within the museum. Within the museum Nubia, Arabic, and Coptic history are largely ignored despite their contributions and important place within Egyptian history. Additionally, the museum is primarily filled with elite objects, such as artifacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb; the story of Egyptian elites is what is emphasised and presented. This demonstrates how Museums often exist as a place to display strands of history and culture that are considered attractive. Constructing a history of Ancient Egypt through its mythical history of Pharaohs, tombs, and hieroglyphs allows the nation to reclaim its international status and construct a sense of global greatness, at the cost of ignoring other strands. Such construction and re-emphasis of an Egypt that is primarily in contact with its elite and ancient roots demonstrates how national identity is increasingly being tailored towards foreign perceptions of the nation in an attempt to bolster tourism. This also demonstrates how political the culture sector can be through observing what is not shown, displayed, or celebrated.
Throughout the GEM’s opening we can see how politically charged the cultural sector can become, as the project seems to mainly consist of Egypt’s attempt to reemphasise its global grandeur and reclaim its own history at the expense of disregarding the history of marginalised groups.
“GEM – Grand Egyptian Museum” by Ronald Douglas Frazier is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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