Exhibit Guides from The First Emperor, Art Gallery of NSW
I saw this wonderful exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales just this week, and it really was fabulous. The soldiers were majestic and imposing and the objects found in the tomb exquisite, yet for me the most mind-bending element was the sheer age of the exhibits: it is incredible to think that these objects were being used over 2000 years ago, and that they are still so beautiful. That, and the bloody ruthlessness of the era: the thanks all those fabulous artisans received for working on the tomb was to be buried alive in it! Thank goodness we live in what is (mostly) a much less blood-thirsty time.
The layout of the exhibition was great, with dark, moody lighting and each room presenting a build on the one before it. The ability to move around the Terracotta Warriors and see them from all sides was fantastic. One minor challenge was the difficulty in reading the descriptions of the objects. I know a lot of thought goes into creating these, yet it was interesting how a very crowded exhibit changed the game. In a not so crowded room the signage would have been perfect, but in the context of a very crowded exhibit you had to be standing right in front of the window to read the descriptor, which combined with some people who seem to read VERY slowly created some stagnant queues. There is a lovely energy when seeing these exhibitions, a mix of anticipation and enlightenment, and it was a shame to hang around in a queue just waiting. One idea would be to see these captions positioned higher up in the cabinets, so they can be viewed even if you haven’t got a position right in front. It’s an interesting consideration in that what works well in a normal exhibit can be less than optimum in a very popular (read crowded) one.
I’d also love to see some drawings of how the objects were used: for example. whilst it’s good to be told an object is a (horse) bridle buckle, it would also be interesting to see it in context, so show me drawing of what it looked like on the horse.
Just minor points, as overall the exhibition was wonderful and well worth seeing. Make sure you also check out the exhibits in the Asian gallery, as the contents from some other tombs are on display there. It all ends on 13th of March 2011 so move quick !
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