This is an original exhibition that awaits summer visitors to Draguignan. The exhibition Mummies, the paths of eternity took its ease at the Hôtel du Département for the whole summer with the aim of showing different representations of mummies, their uses and how they are useful to the living. Because the mummy, captivating for some and frightening for others, above all symbolizes eternal life and has always been a subject of questioning.
« Thanks to a scenography developed in a strictly ethical framework and placed in their respective cultural context, the visitor discovers an exceptional gathering of human and animal mummies, “relics” of famous historical figures, numerous objects associated with the techniques of mummification, funeral practices, unexpected uses in the medical or artistic field, of iconographic documents, photographs and works of a scientific nature », explains Philippe Charlier, curator of the exhibition.
–
Kings of France mummified
The one who is also a forensic scientist, archaeologist, anthropologist and director of research and education at the Quai Branly – Jacques-Chirac museum in Paris explains: ” Mummies are not confined to Egypt. In reality, the phenomenon of the voluntary preservation of dead bodies is universal and occupies all continents and innumerable cultures. In this exhibition, we see the latest advances in knowledge about Egyptian mummies, but we also discover mummies from other regions. Many kings of France, for example, were mummified. The exhibition brings together more than 300 objects on loan from several major French museums to introduce as many people as possible to the latest advances on the subject.
– –
