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RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Museum of Art announces related events, family offerings, and an exhibition café inspired by Golden Mummies of Egypt from the Manchester Museum in England, with a new opening date of Saturday, March 6, 2021. The exhibition will be celebrated with special lectures, studio art workshops, exclusive educator programs, virtual tours and more. Learn more about the schedule of events, food and shopping amenities and related community collaborations below.

On view through July 11, 2021, in its first appearance at an American art museum, Golden Mummies of Egypt features eight extraordinary, gilded mummies and more than 100 related objects including papyri, jewelry, ceramics, and depictions of deities that connect the domestic, daily sphere of these Greco-Roman Egyptians to the religious world of the gods.

Inside the exhibition, visitors can explore beliefs about the afterlife during the relatively little-known era when Egypt was part of the Greek and Roman worlds (circa 300 B.C.E.–200 C.E.) through touchscreen interactive activities, a short film, and a family exhibition guide with afterlife drawing activity.

In a series of lavishly illustrated thematic sections, Golden Mummies showcases the outstanding collections of the Manchester Museum to allow visitors to examine life for the wealthy in multicultural Roman Egypt, where diverse Egyptian, Roman, and Greek communities and cultural influences were blended.

The exhibition also ties into the Museum’s collection, where Greco-Roman objects are displayed in the Egyptian and classical galleries, including the Gilded Mummy Covering, circa 300 B.C.E; Aphrodite-Isis from the first to second century; and the Portrait Head of a Coffin, circa 100–150 C.E. After visitors view Golden Mummies, they can visit the free Museum collection to see more gold and mummy-related objects from this period and beyond.

Tickets:
Exhibition tickets are $20 for nonmember adults, $17 for seniors, and $14 for youth ages 7–18 and currently on sale. Free entry with college ID every Friday, 3–5 pm (Please note: capacity is very limited, and tickets must be reserved in advance by contacting help@ncartmuseum.org.) Event tickets will go on sale in February. More information, including a related Spotify playlist and shareable social media graphics, is available now online.

Exhibition café and store:
Visitors can dine at the exhibition café in East Building with new partner Catering Works. The Museum will also host a special exhibition store with related objects, including a special exhibition catalogue, a special edition Golden Mummies of Egypt Videri chocolate bar, and more.

Community collaborations:
Off campus the exhibition is celebrated around the Triangle with custom cocktails, tea, and chocolate. Good Day Good Night at Origin Hotel Raleigh created a “Gold of Egypt” cocktail with Remy Martin V, Taylor Falernum, salted caramel syrup, pineapple, and golden berries, while Honeysuckle Lakewood’s cocktail features bourbon and ginger liqueur, and is garnished with a honey-gold rim. Honeysuckle Tea House will offer "Egyptian Sunset" tea, made with chamomile, lemon balm, fall gold gingko leaf, ginger root, and oat straw. Heirloom in Raleigh will have a drink called “Eternal Gold.”

Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill will offer a gold-covered, Egyptian-shaped puerquito, a Mexican treat made of cane sugar, as well as a honey-based drink. They will also have a related display of recommended books for people of all ages, from kids and teenagers, to adults. A custom-packaged sea salt chocolate bar will be offered by Videri, both in their Raleigh storefront and in the Museum exhibition store.

Visitors should check individual location websites for availability.

Related Events

Virtual Lectures and Conversations

Virtual Lecture with an Egyptologist: Sex, Art, and Death in Greco-Roman Egypt
Saturday, February 13, Noon
Free; registration required
In this virtual lecture, Manchester Curator Campbell Price interrogates the functions of the exhibition objects, assessing the impact of the expectations of modern viewers, and evaluating the particular seductive attraction of painted portraits and gilded mummies.

Virtual Weinberg Lecture of Egyptology: Learning from Egyptian Mummies
Sunday, March 7, 2 pm
Free; registration required
This virtual lecture by pathologist Michael R. Zimmerman explores the evolution of diseases and how their role in human history can be discovered through archaeological evidence provided by the study of Egyptian mummies.

Virtual Art and Mortality Workshop
Tuesday, March 9, 7 pm
$27.89 Members, $31.10 Nonmembers (taxes and fees included)
Drawing upon themes from Golden Mummies of Egypt, this two-hour virtual workshop intimately explores death, dying, and life transitions, and it’s actually not morbid at all! Join us to unravel these often-taboo subjects to better understand ancient beliefs around the end of life and embrace an intentional approach to confronting mortality. Facilitated by a professional death doula. Ages 18 and up.

Flinders Petrie on Golden Mummies, Race, and Faces
Saturday, April 17, Noon
Free; registration required
In this virtual lecture, Manchester Egyptologist Campbell Price discusses Petrie’s discovery of the golden mummies at Hawara and how Petrie’s study of mummy portraits and skulls has perpetuated racial biases in Egyptology.

Golden Mummies: Adapting Funerary Beliefs and Traditions
Thursday, May 13, Noon
Free; registration required
NCMA Egyptologist Caroline Rocheleau discusses how funerary beliefs and age-old traditions blended at a time when Egypt was ruled by the Macedonian Greeks and the Romans.

Virtual NCMA in Dialogue Series: Art, Death, and Rebirth
Wednesday, May 19, 7 pm
Free; registration required
Tune in to NCMA in Dialogue for thought-provoking conversations with artists, musicians, and filmmakers as we approach the timely and important topics of society and culture and explore how creatives are using the arts as a tool for change in the world.

 Virtual Studio Workshops

Laura Moriarty: Encaustic Arts Past and Future
Saturdays, March 6 and 13, 1:30–3 pm
$47.19 Members, $53.36 Nonmembers (taxes and fees included)
Encaustic paintings from ancient Egypt are still on view today. What makes these colors so vibrant and the marks so expressive? Learn how to begin painting with wax from a modern master of the technique, Laura Moriarty, a painter and sculptor whose innovative techniques take the medium to new expressive heights.

Sacred Geometry with Peter Marin
Saturdays, April 10 and 17, 1:30–3 pm
$47.19 Members, $53.36 Nonmembers (taxes and fees included)
Examine the evolution of sacred art—from ancient Egyptian to contemporary. Learn about significant mathematical and historical themes that influenced art making, such as divine proportions, musical relationships, the “Fibonacci sequence,” and irrational proportions.

 Family Events

Creative Processing for Families: Grief
Sunday, February 21, 2–3 pm
Free; registration required
Loss can make us feel many different emotions, from sadness to anger to gratitude. This hour-long virtual workshop explores Egyptian funerary objects found in the exhibition Golden Mummies of Egypt to start a conversation about the complex experiences of grief we have. Participants will have time for a guided exploration of art-making processes to create their own reflective work of art as a family. The first 30 participants can choose to receive a special kit of art materials!

Golden Mummies Family Day
Saturday, May 22, 10 am–3 pm
Free; registration required
Calling all Egyptologists! Discover the exhibition Golden Mummies of Egypt with free activities just for families. Enjoy a scavenger hunt, virtual art making, and more.

 Tours

Virtual Public Tours
The NCMA welcomes adult, community, and personal groups for virtual, engaging, online discussions led by a Museum docent. Explore Highlights of the Collection or visit Golden Mummies of Egypt. Visit ncartmuseum.org/tours for details and to request a tour.

Educator Events

Educator Webinar: Golden Mummies of Egypt
Tuesday, February 16, 4–5 pm
Free; registration required
How did cultural traditions evolve when Egypt was ruled by the Greeks and Romans? Golden Mummies of Egypt features art from the beginning of Greek rule of Egypt in 332 B.C.E. through the Roman Emperor Constantine’s embrace of Christianity around 300 C.E. What can the art from this time tell us about the beliefs, values, and religious practices around death and the afterlife of the wealthiest members of this society? Join NCMA Egyptologist Caroline Rocheleau and NCMA educators for this webinar to learn more about the Golden Mummies exhibition and resources and opportunities available to students and educators.

Special Exhibition Access for Educators
Tuesday, March 23, 4–7 pm
Free; registration required
The NCMA invites teachers to enjoy exclusive, onsite access to our East Building exhibitions, including Golden Mummies of Egypt. Reflect and recharge in an inspiring atmosphere at a time reserved just for teachers! This is a self-guided program; tickets are limited to provide a safe, calm environment and are available on the hour at 4, 5, or 6 pm during exhibition hours. Cloth masks required.

Virtual Field Trips
Whether you are in the classroom with students or teaching remotely, the NCMA can host your students virtually. Virtual field trips, including virtual tours of Golden Mummies of Egypt, are free for N.C. schools. Visit learn.ncartmuseum.org/vft for details and to register.

Self-Guided Student and Youth Group Visits
Self-guided visits are available for 10–20 students. Students must be divided into groups of five with one chaperone per group. Please complete a request form at bit.ly/NCMAyouthtours 10 or more days in advance of your visit to avoid overscheduling the galleries. A limited number of free tickets to Golden Mummies of Egypt is available for students on a school-sponsored field trip. Email help@ncartmuseum.org to learn more.

Additional Exhibition Openings

Moataz Nasr: Delicate Balance
March 6–July 25, 2021
East Building, Galleries 3 and 4
Acclaimed pan-Arab artist and activist Moataz Nasr (born 1961, Alexandria, Egypt; lives and works in Cairo) creates works of art that offer a contemporary look at Egyptian society and explores often-exoticized and romanticized perceptions of the country. Via paintings, sculptures, videos, and installations, Nasr addresses current sociopolitical norms in Northern Africa.

In this installation two videos explore alternating concepts from Nasr’s home country. The Mountain (2017) is a cinematic narrative about a young woman’s clash between her modern life and her village’s conventional expectations. This work was presented by Egypt in its national pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale (one among 90 national pavilions in this world-famous biennial exhibition). Merge and Emerge (2011) is a meditative, hypnotic presentation by three Sufi dancers, inviting us to experience ecstatic prayerfulness. In each video Nasr highlights traditions and values often associated with Egypt and other Middle Eastern/North African nations—especially female submissiveness and mystical beliefs. Nasr invites contemplation of the delicate balance between past and present, tradition and innovation. 

To Be Young: Coming of Age in the Contemporary
April 3, 2021–2022
East Building, Contemporary Gallery 3
Where does childhood end and adulthood begin? Using both figurative and abstract images from the Museum collection, To Be Young: Coming of Age in the Contemporary offers Museum visitors an introspective overview of coming of age across various communities throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The exhibition explores how youth process development through concepts such as identity, community, and kinship to form new perspectives on the world.

Although To Be Young primarily focuses on individual narratives, it also challenges how society defines maturity as a collective. Each generation of people reconstructs the rites of passage that determine the progression from childhood to adulthood. Therefore, the exhibition questions how traditional rites and rituals that constitute coming of age will change due to the current social climate stimulated by an ongoing racial justice movement and public health crisis.

About the North Carolina Museum of Art:
The North Carolina Museum of Art’s permanent collection spans more than 5,000 years, from ancient Egypt to the present, making the institution one of the premier art museums in the South. The Museum’s collection provides educational, aesthetic, intellectual, and cultural experiences for the citizens of North Carolina and beyond. The 164-acre Museum Park showcases the connection between art and nature through site-specific works of environmental art. The Museum offers changing national touring exhibitions, classes, lectures, family activities, films, and concerts.

The Museum opened West Building, home to the permanent collection, in 2010. The North Carolina Museum of Art, Valerie Hillings, director, is located at 2110 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh. It is the art museum of the State of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, governor, and an agency of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources under the direction of secretary D. Reid Wilson.

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CONTACT:

Kat Harding
(440) 759-8148
kat.harding@ncdcr.gov