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Amid massive security and accompanied by a specialist entourage of handlers and technical experts, one of the biggest shows in the world, already seen by more than seven million people, has opened in Melbourne.

Making the final stop on a world tour which has travelled around the USA and Europe, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs has opened at the Melbourne Museum.

The exhibition at the Melbourne Museum, features 130 artefacts from the boy king's tomb and the temples of his ancestors from the 18th Dynasty (from the middle of the 16th century BC to the beginning of the 13th century BC), who reigned during Egypt's 'golden age'.

Among the treasures from the tomb are the cobra diadem (ornamental crown) thought to protect the mummified pharaoh, a golden dagger, the inlaid collar he wore when he was crowned and a gold canopic coffinette, which contained his mummified internal organs.

All the artefacts exhumed from Tutankhamun's tomb are considered property of the Egyptian government, by international convention, and it's rare for them to leave the country.

The exhibition is so expensive to mount that other museums, including the British Museum in London and New York's Metropolitan, refused to host it. The Melbourne Museum, along with sports and entertainment group IMG and Victorian Major Events Company, has underwritten the $10 million cost of bringing the show to Australia.

Mark Lach, Creative Director of Arts and Exhibitions International, has spent the past seven years travelling with the show.

He told Melbourne newspaper The Age "I think it's because of the importance, the notoriety the exhibition gets, and every seven or eight months it's a whole new experience."

Lach is responsible for the exhibition's design - from the layout of the artefacts, to the lighting, sound and the narrative.

Given the age and importance of the artefacts - which are flown in on several different jets, they are left for a few days to acclimatise to the temperature and humidity of the building, before being installed.

"We are looking after things that cannot be replaced and it's our responsibility to return the objects to Egypt in the same condition in which they were so graciously given to us," Lach adds.

Lach also conceived the narrative the exhibition follows, and the multimedia aspects of the show.

Such 'theatricality' has led to criticism, the Egyptian actor Omar Sharif narrates the audio tour, and the gift-shop merchandise have led to accusations of dumbing down.

Lach explains "it's an elitist thing to say without walking through and experiencing it yourself, and some people have said that from afar, automatically saying if it's blockbuster, a lot of people are going to see it, it must be dumbed down - I take issue with that."

Lach highlights the show's educational element, saying even scholars can learn something; the latest DNA research on Tutankhamun remains, outlined in a multimedia presentation, is being continually updated.

The Melbourne Museum is the only Australian venue to host the exhibition, following a recent tradition of blockbuster exhibitions at Melbourne's museums.

For more information go to www.kingtutmelbourne.com.au

2nd November 2010 - MELBOURNE MUSEUM SECURES KING TUT 

14th June 2010 - 20 YEARS OF INDIGENOUS THEATRE CELEBRATED AT BUNJILAKA 

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