Cityneon Holdings announces another major historical artifacts exhibition, just weeks after revealing its foray into the artifacts space with Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru. Come November this year, Houston Museum of Natural Science and Cityneon will debut an exhibition of 183 pieces of rare artefacts from ancient Egypt that focuses on the pharaoh Ramses The Great.
In December 2020, the exhibition was approved by the Egyptian Cabinet and the decree was signed by Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. The news had been widely received by the Egyptian public, with Egyptian media proclaiming that the exhibition will showcase “the most prominent and unique historical Pharaonic holdings”.
These 183 pieces of rare artifacts will be featured in the inaugural exhibition titled Ramses The Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs and the exhibition will open in Texas at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Ramses II, also known as Ramses The Great, ruled for 66 years, which was the second longest reign in ancient Egyptian history. Because of his long rule, Ramses II is thought to have amassed one of the largest and richest burial chambers and is regarded as the most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom, the most celebrated period of ancient Egypt.
The exhibition is expected to attract large crowds as evidenced by previous showcases of Egyptian treasures worldwide. In 1986, a touring exhibition on Ramses II sold a record of about 5 million tickets. As recent as in 2019, when Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh was exhibited in Paris, it broke the French visitor record with about 1.5 million visitors. Egyptian expert Gamal El-Din Mokhtar once said that the Ramses II exhibition had exceeded the experience from the Tutankhamun exhibition by being “more exemplary archeologically, historically and culturally than the treasures of Tutankhamun”.
Fast forward to 2021 and Ramses The Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs. The exhibition boasts the first virtual walkthrough of Ramses II’s famous temples and will include a first full-length documentary ever produced on Ramses II’s tomb for this tour. Details of the documentary will be released soon.
Mr. Ron Tan, Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Cityneon, said: “The priceless artifacts in our care, as well as being given exclusive access to Ramses’ tomb allow Cityneon to stage an authentic and exhilarating recount of his life. This is the first time after 32 long years that people all over the world will have a chance to get up close to the life of the greatest pharaoh of all times. From the record-breaking sales of about 5 million tickets from the Ramses II exhibition in 1986 to the recently achieved visitorship for the King Tutankhamun exhibition in Paris in 2019, we are confident that Ramses The Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs will be another record-breaking feat.”
“Cityneon is thankful to work with partners as established as the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the World Heritage Exhibitions, and we are also honoured to have the support of the Egyptian government. I am very excited for the Cityneon team to showcase these remarkable pieces of artifacts to the world,” Mr Tan continued.
Joel A. Bartsch, President and Chief Executive Officer at Houston Museum of Natural Science, said they were honored to be launching the exhibition with Cityneon and World Heritage Exhibitions and they believe the Groups’ extensive experience in exhibitions would lead to an engaging showcase. “All three teams have great track records and we are confident that the 183 pieces of Egyptian artifacts will captivate visitors from around the world. We look forward to hosting visitors from Houston, the nation and beyond at this historical, educational and immersive exhibition,” said Bartsch.
Mr. Anthony Tann, President of World Heritage Exhibitions, said: “We are extremely honored to partner Cityneon for yet another artifacts exhibition. I am confident Cityneon will bring their incomparable expertise to the table and bring alive the treasures of Ramses II to cities across the world, welcoming the many millions of visitors globally.”
Cityneon has assembled an experienced team who would be able to handle these precious historical treasures and launch the exhibition across the globe. The Group is also riding on its expertise in the curation of intellectual property experiences to build up their capabilities in the artifact exhibitions arena.
Cityneon now has two global and major artifact-related intellectual property and has plans to acquire more historical artifacts IPs, with one from Asia expected in 2021.
