PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A Philadelphia museum barred from displaying mummies and other historic artifacts from China has come up with a solution to salvage a long-awaited exhibit – just make some new mummies.
The replicas were whipped up by staff at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology after Chinese officials requested that 120 artifacts intended for use in the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibit not be removed from their crates.
“This is my Plan B,” Kate Quinn, director of exhibits, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “We had to do something. We had so much invested in this.”
Quinn’s nine-member staff spent the last week blowing up catalog shots and computer images of pottery, masks, jewelry, coins and the other antiquities, then printing and mounting them in the special display cases and spaces where the real antiquities would have been displayed.
To build the mummies, workers researched images from different vantage points, and a carpenter on staff was drafted to build replicas. For the female mummy called “Beauty of Xiaohe,” a body made of papier-mache was covered by a blanket made from fabric bought at a local store and boots made from deerskin. An infant mummy was also constructed and swaddled in a felt blanket.
“We wanted to represent all of the objects that we could in some way,” Quinn said. “It was a research journey.”
The display also features an extensive story line and visual presentations about the Silk Road, ancient trade routes covering 4,000 miles to connect China with the West.
Museum director Richard Hodges and curatorial consultant Victor Mair said negotiations were continuing for display of the real objects, which range in age from 700 to 3,800 years old.
The mummies are particularly fascinating because they have Caucasian features, proving that populations migrated eastward from Europe and brought their customs and skills with them. Other artifacts include clothing, fabrics, wooden and bone implements, and even preserved foods such as a wonton, spring roll and fried dough.
Officials decided, however, not to charge a higher admission price and are offering free admission to all who pay the regular museum entry fee. The exhibit is scheduled to run through June 5.
About 570 people attended Saturday’s opening, which also featured music and several live camels. Many said they were disappointed not to see the original artifacts but were impressed by staff efforts to save the exhibit.
“I actually think they’ve done a wonderful job even though they don’t have the actual mummies,” said Robert Leavens of Medford. “My daughter’s afraid of mummies anyway.”
Sha’Quan Johnson, 14, who traveled with teacher Carrie Lewis from Lynchburg, Va., to research her ninth-grade project on the Silk Road, said she wasn’t disappointed.
“If they hadn’t told me, I probably would have thought they were real,” she said.
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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer,
http://www.philly.com
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AP-ES-02-06-11 1300EST