LITTLE ROCK — It is well-known by now that the widely heralded “World of the Pharaohs” has turned into a financial and public-relations debacle for the Arkansas Arts Center.
But as the exhibition of 300-plus objects from ancient Egypt heads into its final two weeks in Little Rock, it’s also true that there’s much of merit to be seen and learned from a last-minute visit to the ill-starred endeavor.
As I observed after the opening in September, “the handsomely arranged show ... treats the mind to a wealth of engaging information about what life was like along the Nile River in one of the earliest cohesive large-scale civilizations - which also proved to be one of history’s most durable.”
My review also noted that “care and intelligence clearly went into the concise printed panels posted in the six galleries and the sprightly audiotour narration.”
With hindsight, what the exhibit lacks is any big-bang, eyepopping objects like the dazzling solid-gold funeral mask of the hugely popular “Treasures of Tutankhamun” traveling show in the 1970s. A good many “World of the Pharaohs” artifacts deserve admiration for their craftsmanship and beauty, but none is likely to inspire a full-throated “Wow!” of excitement.
That shortfall helps explain why the exhibit failed to generate the word-of-mouth buzz important to driving attendance for such a high-profile show. In a sense, this has proved to be a connoisseurs’ exhibition - more readily appreciated by those already conversant with ancient Egypt than by a mildly curious general public.
As for the mummies brought in to convey a popular image of pharaonic Egypt, anyone who has seen the elaborately decorated mummy cases in collections like those of Chicago’s Oriental Institute or London’s British Museum figures to dismiss these two as run-of-the-mill specimens.
With its July 5 closing near,the Arts Center’s most ambitious special exhibition ever will be fortunate to reach the 100,000 attendance figure. That would be merely a third of the 300,000 total that wildly hopeful - in retrospect - organizers were projecting last summer.
The relatively stiff adult ticket price of $22 (plus $5 for an audio guide) no doubt slowed attendance as well, more so given the recession-straitened finances of many Arkansans. Aiming to draw additional visitors in the show’s final weeks, the Arts Center is offering a $5 adult discount coupon on its arkarts.com website, reducing the price to $17. Other discounts remain available and hours have been extended toMondays, when the museum is normally closed.
A recent Friday afternoon visit to “World of the Pharaohs” turned up a heartening number of paying customers in the six galleries. It also reinforced last fall’s impression that anyone not already tuned in to ancient Egypt definitely should rent an audio guide.
There’s a bit of a ghostly twist to the taped commentary, in that Nan Plummer can still be heard as one of the narrators. She resigned as the Arts Center’s executive director in April amid emerging information that the museum faces a deficit of $1.2 million for the fiscal year that ends June 30 - much of it due to the cost of staging “Pharaohs.”
Plummer’s voice provides background on the show’s most beguiling object, a restored dress and collar at least4,200 years old from a tomb near Giza’s Great Pyramids:
“These are two very beautiful items of women’s dress: a dress made entirely of beads strung on netted cord and a beautiful beaded broad collar. They aren’t attached, but they’re meant to be worn together. When discovered in the tomb, this dress was a fairly disorganized-looking pile of faience beads, or glazed clay beads - several thousand of them - carefully photographed so that scientists could string them back together in the way that they would have been worn.”
The continuing narration brings to life the regal setting of four millenia ago:
“It’s a very elegant outfit - rather revealing - probably worn only on very special occasions. Writing about a similar kind of dress, an ancient author wrote that the heart ofthe king was very happy when the women in his boat tossed off their regular clothing and put on one of these bead-net dresses instead.”
Given the see-through nature of the amazing garment, it’s easy to imagine just how happy the king would have been. His response might wellhave been “Wow!” Such exuberance would be a stretch for “Pharaohs” as a whole, but the exhibit is still worth a look before its July 5 closing.
‘Pharewell to the Pharaohs’ party celebrates exhibit
“World of the Pharaohs: Treasures of Egypt Revealed” runs through July 5 at the Arkansas Arts Center, Ninth and Commerce streets, Little Rock. Exhibition hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.
Admission to the exhibit is $22 for adults, $20 for adults 60 and older, $18 for college students with ID, $15 for military personnel with ID, $14 for ages 6-17, free for children 5 and under and Arts Center members. Renting an audioguide costs $5 ($3 for members).
Discount coupons lowering adult admission to $17 can be printed at the Arts Center website, arkarts.com. In addition, all tickets are reduced to $14 from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. Discounted family packages are also available.
On Thursday, there will be a “Pharewell to the Pharaohs” party 5:30-8 p.m. in the Arts Center’s atrium, featuring complimentary martinis and hors d’oeuvres, music and a docent-led exhibition tour. Admission to the party is limited to Arts Center members, but membership can be bought at the door for as little as $35 ($10 off the normal annual fee).
For more information, call (501) 372-4000.
Style, Pages 49 on 06/20/2010