Out and About: Sir John Soane’s Museum Temporary Exhibitions

Jessica Juckes, International Training Programme Assistant

Today, I sneaked out on my lunch break to visit the two current temporary exhibitions at Sir John Soane’s Museum, which focus on Rome and Egypt.

The first of these exhibitions, The Roman Singularity by architectural designer Adam Nathaniel Furman, was programmed to coincide with the 15^th London Design Festival. The main piece on display is an imaginary Rome of assembled glazed ceramic 3D-printed models, referencing the city’s various architectures, their influence upon architectural styles abroad, and Grand Tour souvenirs.

Furman’s Pasteeshio, a site-specific work created especially for the museum, pays homage to Soane’s Pasticcio, and the two are situated on either side of a window, viewable together. Furman has also created a wallpaper to accompany Pasteeshio and a video piece, employing purposely garish, bright colours. Interestingly, Furman runs a research group called Saturated Space at the Architectural Association exploring colour in Architecture and Urbanism.

The exhibition has been placed in the museum’s Georgian front kitchen, which was first opened to the public just over a year ago, as part of the extensive seven-year restoration project Opening Up the Soane. It is particularly interesting to view these ceramic works in conversation with the crockery on permanent display in the kitchen. See images of the works in situ at the museum on Furman’s website here.

Read the full exhibition press release here.

The second exhibition on show is Egypt Uncovered: Belzoni and the Tomb of Pharaoh Seti I. Seti I’s sarcophagus is a prized piece at Sir John Soane’s that many ITPers will remember well, and the exhibition marks the 200^th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb by Egyptologist Giovanni Battista Belzoni.

The exhibition includes loans from the British Museum of shabtis and painted wall fragments from the tomb, and from UK partner Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, lending an impressive collection of watercolour impressions of the tombs wall paintings, executed by Belzoni and his assistant, as well as other materials. Read more about Bristol’s Belzoni Collection on their website here.

Another fantastic ITP connection: ITP Department Representative John Taylor from the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan has published the first ever book on the sarcophagus! Follow this link to read more about it.

Read the full exhibition press release here.