15 June 2004
– 9 January 2005
Matisse to Freud:
A Critic’s Choice, The Alexander Walker Bequest
The renowned film critic and author, Alexander
Walker (1930-2003), who reviewed for the Evening Standard for over forty
years, left his extraordinary collection of more than 200 twentieth-century
prints and drawings to the British Museum. Artists represented include
Jasper Johns, Lucian Freud, Philip Guston, Bridget Riley, Rachel Whiteread,
David Hockney as well as Picasso, Matisse and Miró. Walker
was a highly discerning collector of modern art, with an eye for works
which showed a new direction or turning point. His collection represents
the largest and most significant bequest of modern works that the Department
of Prints and Drawings has received in the past fifty years.
1 July 2004 – January
2005
Mummy: the inside
story
Using cutting-edge computer graphics and
the latest scientific and medical research, this ground-breaking new exhibition
will allow the visitor to view a ‘virtual unwrapping’ and autopsy, of a
2800 year old Egyptian mummy using computer images of astonishing clarity.
Visitors will sit in a state-of-the-art immersive theatre and will be equipped
with 3D glasses in order to explore every aspect of the mummy’s body and
scrutinise the objects inside the wrappings.
22 July 2004 - 16 January
2005
Status Symbols identity
and belief on modern badges
An exploration of the symbolic power of
badges and other similar objects to express identity and belonging, belief
and dissent. This exhibition includes badges from around the world
and from all periods, ranging from the mass-produced to the individually-crafted,
the official and the subversive, the familiar and the strange, but all
of them are powerful statements of the diverse ways people define themselves
and others. As well as examining attitudes to individual and group identity,
the exhibition explores the origin, use and subversion of symbols, and
shows how badges can create dialogues between conflicting views.
9 September 2004 -
9 January 2005
Sudan: Ancient Treasures.
An exhibition of recent discoveries
Sudan has long been eclipsed by its northern
neighbour, Egypt. This exhibition, focussing on recent archaeological discoveries,
will highlight the extremely rich and diverse cultures which flourished
in Sudan for millennia and made it not only Egypt's trading partner but
its rival on the Nile.