Interview: On the Ancient Egypt exhibition held in Monaco

MONACO, France - 6 July 2018: Egypt Today interviewed the General Manager of the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco Sylvie Biancheri, on Friday, about the ongoing Ancient Egyptian exhibition currently held there.

The Grimaldi Forum is currently hosting an exhibition of Ancient Egyptian gold jewelry, reviewing their evolution over the centuries and their importance historically and culturally.

The exhibition, according to Biancheri, aims to “incite the audience to discover Egypt” while changing the international image associated with Monaco to one that shows its keenness on culture, heritage, and arts.

The full interview is included below.


The Ancient Egypt exhibition held in Monaco- photo courtesy of the Grimaldi Forum Monaco facebook page



Can you tell me why you are hosting these antiques here from Egypt?

Biancheri: Ten years ago, you probably know we produced a huge exhibition here about Egyptian antiques, and it was very successful. It was about the queens of Egypt and you lent us very important pieces, and because of that success and the great interest of the audience in Egyptian antiquities, we decided to do another exhibition. We are the Grimaldi Forum, and Grimaldi is the name of the royal family (of Monaco) and we are supported by the government to be able to produce this kind of exhibition.

This exhibition will be held for two months and the ticket is for €8 - we are a non-profit forum but because of the magnitude of this exhibition and because it costs a lot of money, around €2.5 to 2.7 million, [we are charging for tickets.]


So what is the goal or the idea behind this exhibition?


[This exhibition is held] because it’s very important for Monaco to show that we can produce upscale international exhibitions and the idea to bring Egypt again is to promote Egyptian antiquities and through a very attractive exhibition, incite people to discover Egypt and encourage people to come back to Egypt. It is very important for the prince and the government of Monaco to show that Monaco has a cultural know-how in this kind of exhibition, that Monaco is not only the image that you see of casinos and so on, we want to change this image. Monaco is not only that, it’s also a very nice place for culture, opera, ballet, and large exhibitions and for sure Egypt is a good partner for that.

The Grimaldi Forum opened 18 years ago and has been organizing and producing large exhibitions and such to show that Monaco exists on the map of the big cultural institutions of the world. And I think thanks to the success of this exhibition we can now export our cultural know-how to the world



The Ancient Egypt exhibition held in Monaco- photo courtesy of the Grimaldi Forum Monaco facebook page


Why did you choose those antiquities specifically?

Biancheri: Because our curator, who you know very well, Christiane Ziegler, a well-known Egyptologist, has carried out a lot of research and excavations in Egypt on behalf of France. We discussed a new subject [for the exhibition], we wanted something new for us, and the idea came to exhibit gold jewelry: the know-how of jewelry, its history over the centuries in Egypt and the process of jewelry’s evolution and how it still evolves. It’s not a new idea but it’s something that hasn’t been really raised in previous exhibitions.

How many visitors do you expect for the exhibition?

Biancheri: We expect at least the same number as 10 years ago, 75,000 visitors and maybe more, because this exhibition is exceptional and we really do believe it will be a huge success.


The Ancient Egypt exhibition held in Monaco- photo courtesy of the Grimaldi Forum Monaco facebook page




What inspired the exhibition’s decor? I see you used blue all over.

Biancheri: The inspiration is lapis lazuli which has been used a lot in Egypt, and because that color goes really well as well with gold. He (the designer, William Chatelain) wanted people to have the impression of being inside the tombs, especially with the different heights of the ceiling and so on - as though they’re archaeologists on excavations.

Have you been to Egypt?

Chatelain: Yes, I went on a special journey with Christiane Ziegler, to get inspired by the archaeological atmosphere and sites, and also to visit the Cairo Museum which is the most emblematical site with ancient Egyptian artifacts.

150 ancient Egyptian masterpieces in Grimaldi's Forum July 7

Monaco - 6 July 2018: Minister of Antiquities Khaled Anany held a press conference on Friday with Grimaldi Forum's director, and the Minister of Tourism Rania Al-Mashat, before the opening of "The Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition" in Monaco.

The Ancient Egypt exhibition held in Monaco- photo courtesy of the Grimaldi Forum Monaco facebook page




General Manager of Grimaldi Forum Sylvie Biancheri with Minister of Antiquities Khaled Anany and the Minister of Tourism Rania Al-Mashat during a press Conference, July 6 2018 - Egypt Today/Khaled Salah