KING TUT: THE GOLDEN AGE AND THE GREAT PHARAOHS at the Art Gallery of Ontario (317 Dundas West), extended to May 2. $14.50-$32.50. 416-979-6648. Rating: NNN
King Tut, the official golden museum ticket of the season, extends his colossal rule until May 2. Even this far into the boy king’s Toronto reign, the show continues to be mobbed by visitors.
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This is partly explained by the blockbuster presentation. The AGO has given the exhibit an almost Vegas-like sheen, with gimmicks piped in directly from the Discovery Channel.
At the entrance – a theme-park-style faux Egyptian gate – visitors are treated to a brief video narrated by none other than (could it be?) Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford.
Equally Hollywood is the barely audible soundtrack of wondrous choral harmonies wafting through the exhibit. If a coffinette had suddenly leapt to pixelated life, I wouldn’t have been surprised.
Whatever you think of theme-park theatrics, though, there’s no denying that these artifacts are exquisite. As impressive as all the funerary bling are the tinier stone sculptures. A small head of an Amarna princess, for example, is just about perfect, with her smooth, elongated skull and serene face staring imperturbably into eternity.
Commendable also is the contextualization of Tutankhamun in a larger historical narrative. The early part of the show focuses on Akhenaten, a fearsome pharaoh who attempted to impose a new form of monotheism on his kingdom. Tutankhamun was heir to this new religion after his early death, he was hastily buried and his name erased from all historical records.
It’s no small irony that Tut is now the best known of all the pharaohs, and that his place in history, as well as in the hearts of museum directors everywhere, is assured.
art@nowtoronto.com
