One click is enough to immerse yourself in the rooms of the Egyptian Museum of Torino and don't "get lost" with this important cultural institution. One click to visit the temporary exhibition Invisible Archeology, to discover the history that lies behind some important archaeological finds. The exhibition cannot be visited in person because the museums have been closed since the beginning of November due to the Coronavirus emergency. But at the Egyptian Museum, as in other Italian museums, the dialogue continues with that public, however interested in discovering its priceless treasures. Also online. Starting with the temporary exhibition Invisible Archeology. An exhibition whose purpose is to explain to the public what lies behind the archaeological find on display, its biography. What do you go to see, albeit in a virtual way?
The exhibition researches and illustrates the history of objects, dividing the exhibition path into three sections: the excavation phase, diagnostic analyzes, restoration and conservation. In fact, the simple observation of an artifact is not enough to be able to tell its story. Our senses, primarily sight, give us back only a part of what is the entire life cycle of an object. In most cases, its simple observation does not allow us to know its origins, its real functions, the contexts of use and its cultural and symbolic value. Precisely this is the aspect that the Invisible Archeology project wants to investigate. Exploring the fascinating dimension of that investigative activity that modern equipment, applied to the methods of investigation and research of Egyptology, allow you to perform when you go to study an archaeological find.
Interrogate the objects of the past to know their entire history
THEArchaeometry, which is the set of techniques used to study this particular aspect of archeology, today allows us to "interrogate" the objects. The ancient ones and also the very ancient ones. For example, asking a vase, a mummy, a sarcophagus who they really are and why they are now in the Egyptian Museum. The answers of each single find can tell us news, anecdotes, sometimes even curiosities that would be inaccessible without these innovative research techniques.
This is why we talk about Invisible Archeology, because new technologies make it possible to make visible what is invisible. Due to the pandemic, even this exhibition would not be visible if a virtual tour had not been made available to the public, open not only to the Turinese but to anyone interested in “visiting” the exhibition.
The virtual tour of the exhibition in 3D
The virtual tour is possible thanks to the use of 360-degree cameras with which a 3D reproduction of the exhibition was created. The students of the degree course in Cinema and Media Engineering of the Politecnico di Torino in collaboration with the creative studio Robin Studio contributed to this project. With one click you “enter” the virtual tour, to discover the exhibition halls, the shop windows and the precious artifacts that are kept there. From the biography of objects to multispectral analyzes… From animal mummies to the paintings of Iti and Neferu… From the mummy of Kha to that of Merit… Up to the museum's papyri, their analysis and conservation.
It is worth noting that the Egyptian Museum, the oldest museum in the world dedicated entirely to Egyptian culture, in this period he remains connected with his audience also with the stories of illustrious Piedmontese on his YouTube channel. With i tales, by the curators, of the most curious and special objects in the collection. But also the complete visit to the museum together with director Christian Greco. With a rich calendar of meetings, entirely online, focused on research and investigation topics Egyptological, museum and archival. Still, initiatives for the little ones, Collection database which gives access to almost all of the exhibits (about 3300), the collection of Papyria live radio broadcast from the rooms of the Egyptian Museum, created in collaboration with Radio Ohm and broadcast every Sunday from 11 to 12.
