An exhibition on creativity in ancient Egypt is the next huge show to open at the Young V&A. And like everything in the award-winning East London museum, it’s created specially for children and families.
The more than 200 fascinating objects going on display will take young visitors on a journey through the ancient past to modern day, exploring how stories and images from Egypt continue to influence art, design and popular culture to this day.
Ancient items — some up to 5,500 years old — will be shown alongside contemporary objects such as comics, games and films. These include Minecraft, LEGO and 1999’s The Mummy movie.
The biggest draw for ancient Egypt lovers — of all ages — will, however, be the stunningly preserved centrepiece of a 3,000-year-old, 2m-tall coffin of an Egyptian princess thought to be worth millions of dollars.
Other ancient artefacts you can get up close to — many actually on display for the very first time — will include decorative funerary masks and linen shrouds dating back over 2,000 years.
There’ll also be many modern-day responses to the historical story, created by jewellery and fashion designers, graphic novelists, ceramic artists and more. These will spotlight how ancient Egypt continues to inspire makers thousands of years later.
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Making Egypt’s curator Benjamin Hinson promises young visitors “fresh insights into the creative practices of one of the longest-lasting civilisations in the world.” The Young V&A’s Director Dr Helen Charman said it will “provoke curiosity and fire the imagination.”
What’s on display in the Making Egypt exhibition?
The exhibition will be divided into three sections — Storytelling, Communicating and Making. Each explored Egyptian creativity through a different lens.
Visitors will journey from sunrise to sunset along the Nile, encountering the landscapes, stories and people that inspired ancient Egypt’s creative language, with playful illustrations of famous gods guiding the way.
In the opening section — Storytelling — young visitors will be introduced to some of Egypt’s major myths, and their key storytelling ingredients. This includes how religious beliefs and the natural world were often brought together. Highlight objects will include a 4,000-year-old small wooden model funerary boat, and an amulet of the protective Goddess of childbirth and fertility Taweret. This goddess takes its form from three creatures which roamed the Nile’s surrounding landscapes: a hippopotamus, a crocodile and lion.
Storytelling will finish by looking at how comics, movies and pop culture have re-cast Egypt’s ancient gods into modern icons, from action-adventure film The Mummy (1999) starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, to collectible Yu-gi-oh cards. Comic fans will also see Marvel's Moon Knight and DC Comics’ Doctor Fate and Black Adam.
The exhibition’s second section Communicating will spotlight how the stories Egyptians told were communicated through written hieroglyphics and visuals. Visitors will have the chance to see the tools used to illustrate Egypt's visual language, including a surviving plasterer’s trowel (used to create a smooth surface for tomb paintings) and a pigment grinder (used to create vibrant colours for paints and inks).
You’ll be able to get involved in this section too, with hands-on activities inviting young visitors to test their own skills of drawing, deciphering hieroglyphics and exploring the meanings of colours.
This section will also explore the role of writing and drawing in connection to the afterlife, and will feature the show’s most stunning display — a magnificent fully painted 2-metre tall coffin of royal Princess Sopdet-em-haawt. The coffin — or sarcophagus — has spent the last six years on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and has not been shown in a UK museum before.
The exhibition’s final section asks why objects were made, what they were made of, and how they were made. Multiple ancient figurines which were buried alongside the Pharaoh Djedhor will be shown. Making will also look at ancient's Egypt's mass production (yes, it's not just a modern issue), particularly of amulets, rings and small figurines. Here there’ll be examples you can actually touch, and activities to encourage young visitors to design their own items.
And finally, bringing the story right up to the present day, there’ll be a LEGO model of the Great Pyramid of Giza, and self-made video tutorials on how to create your own ancient Egyptian world in the video game Minecraft.
Making Egypt tickets
Tickets for Making Egypt are available to pre-book now, and cost £10. Note under 3s get in free.
A big bonus is that unlike most other museums, a ticket to this show is actually an annual pass, so you'll be able to go back and visit as many times as you like. And as it’s on for 8 months, that’s lots of opportunities to visit — especially during those long summer school holidays!
Making Egypt opens at Young V&A on 15 February and runs until 02 November 2025
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