Australian Museum to host largest Tutankhamun exhibition to ever leave Egypt

The Australian Museum in Sydney is set to host the extraordinary Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh blockbuster exhibition in early 2021 within its touring exhibitions halls – which are to be refurbished at a cost of $50 million to host the exhibition and future events.

Securing the largest and most impressive King Tutankhamun exhibition to ever leave Egypt, the staging of the exhibition has been described as an "incredible coup for Sydney”.

For the final time before the artefacts are housed permanently in the new Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza pyramids, the blockbuster Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh exhibition will spend six months in Sydney.

Announcing the hosting, NSW Minister for the Arts Don Harwin stated “the Tutankhamun exhibition is a game-changer for Sydney and Australia. Sydney is the major cultural city in the Pacific/South East Asian region, and the significant upgrades to the Australian Museum will ensure we have world-class museum exhibition spaces for visitors as well as residents to enjoy.

“As well as the transformed exhibition space, the refurbishment will also create new education facilities, enabling school student visitors to double to 100,000 a year – all completed in time to host the Tutankhamun exhibition.”

To be funded by the NSW Government, the expanded touring exhibition halls will be able to accommodate up to 800,000 visitors.

Sydney forms part of a 10-city world tour to mark the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter.

Director and Chief Executive of the Australian Museum, Kim McKay said that the refurbishment is a critical step in the future development of the Australian Museum, stating “repurposing existing storage space will see the significant expansion of the touring exhibition halls to 1500 metre² across two levels – allowing the Museum to host either one big blockbuster or two exhibitions simultaneously.”

Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh features more than 150 objects from King Tut’s tomb, including 60 treasures never previously displayed outside Egypt. Produced by IMG, it is the last time these objects will travel outside Egypt now that the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza is nearing completion.

Currently on exhibit to sold-out crowds at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, USA - the first stop on the 10-city world tour - the exhibition also features advanced display technology and the latest science about boy Pharoah's life, health, death and lineage.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs attracted records during its time at the Melbourne Museum in 2011.

Images: Exhibits at Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition at the Melbourne Museum in 2011 (top) an how the Australian Museum will look during the Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh exhibition in 2021 (below).

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