Designers Studio MB are delighted with the success of their latest museum exhibition commission, Fascinating Mummies, at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The exhibition allows visitors to look beyond the beauty of Egyptian artefacts on display to understand the complex rituals of mummification and burial that lie behind them.
Working to the narrative and design brief created by the in-house exhibition team, Studio MB designed the overall look and feel of the exhibition.
The company are known for their immersive and narrative approach, and from the moment visitors step into the exhibition space they are transported to an atmospheric, tomb-like gallery where a shaft of light through the ceiling picks out a lone sarcophagus.
Visitors are then taken along a dynastic timeline of Ancient Egypt, charting 5,000 years of burial rituals. Wonderful objects are set against the hauntingly beautiful paintings by Scottish artist David Roberts.
After the timeline, visitors are introduced to the human aspect of mummification and the deeply held beliefs behind the methods. The complicated process is broken down step by step and its rituals and spiritual journey to the afterlife explained including direct translations from hieroglyphs which are used to punctuate the space.
The visitor is then brought back to present day through a history of archaeological discovery to understand how unraveling mummies’ secrets has changed over the years. New research and discoveries made through modern technologies such as CAT scans are introduced to demonstrate the benefits of non-invasive research.
The exhibition culminates with an entire gallery of the exhibition dedicated to the Egyptian high priest Ankhhor. Ankhhor is a rare example of an archaeological find where a wealth of information collated on Ankhhor's life and death was extracted through non-invasive technologies. Ankhhor’s mummy, inner, middle and outer sarcophagi are displayed one after the other and are guarded by life-size figures taken from the stunning artwork on the final sarcophagus.
This fantastic exhibition has received five star reviews in the press and been well received by the visitors.
The exhibition continues at the National Museum of Scotland until 27 May 2012.
Studio MB LLP
31a Dundas Street
Edinburgh EH3 6QQ
Tel: 0131 555 9355
www.studiomb.co.uk
