On 27 Feb, over 1,100 people attended The Museum of Museums fundraiser event hosted by the exhibition Tutankhamun – His Tomb and His
Nick Merriman, Director of the Manchester Museum, receives the cheque from Christoph Scholz of Semmel Concerts
Treasures. The event raised a fantastic £10,000 for the Manchester Museum.
The event raised over £7,500 in ticket sales, raffle tokens and catering, which was then rounded up by exhibition producers Semmel Concerts to the £10,000 figure.
Christoph Scholz, Chief Producer of the Tutankhamun Exhibition said ‘It was such an honour to be able to hand over a check for £10,000 to the Museum. On behalf of the Tutankhamun – His Tomb and His Treasures team, we’d like to thank all of those who came along and supported the Museum of Museums evening and the Manchester Museum.’
The fundraiser was held in aid of Manchester Museum’s planned Ancient Worlds Galleries Initiative. Last refurbished over 25 years ago, Manchester Museum’s much loved Ancient Worlds galleries are now in urgent need of updating to make the most of the incredible artefacts. Funds raised on the night will go towards a complete redisplay of three major new galleries to mark the 2012 centenary of the opening of the museum’s first ancient Egypt galleries. The three galleries will highlight the best of the Manchester Museum’s collections from Manchester and the North West, and from ancient civilisations such as Egypt, Greece and Rome. The original ancient Egypt galleries were funded by local cotton merchant Jesse Haworth and created the first permanent home for one of the UK’s outstanding ancient Egypt and archaeology collections.
Nick Merriman Director at the Manchester Museum said: ‘On behalf of the Manchester museum and its entire staff we’d like to thank everyone in attendance and Semmel Concerts for their support and this generous donation. It will go a long way towards achieving our funding target for the new Ancient Worlds Galleries. Everyone in Manchester will have been to visit our current Ancient Egyptian galleries when they were at school, the refurbishment of these galleries will allow us to continue our great work with children for a great many years to come.’
Hosted by Real Radio presenter Darren Parks, those in attendance were treated to an exclusive book signing by the creator of the acclaimed Horrible Histories children’s books; Terry Deary who made a special trip to Manchester to view the exhibition and support the event, in addition to a number of talks from Manchester Museum officials and a range of entertainment including performances from Northwest guitar virtuoso Neil Campbell and singer Perri Alleyne Hughes.
Younger visitors were kept entertained with Egyptian style face painting, jewellery crafts and wig making , and a selection of original artefacts from the 18th Dynasty – the period including Tutankhamun’s reign – were on display, courtesy of Manchester Museum.
One of the highlights of the evening was the Grand Prize Draw in which one luck visitor won a copy of the spectacular book, ‘A Secret Voyage’ by world renowned Egyptologist, Dr Zahi Hawass. The stunning collection of photography, history and notes is a limited edition and usually retails at £2600!
‘Tutankhamun – His Tomb and His Treasures’ based at the Museum of Museums near the Trafford Centre Manchester was recently extended by four weeks and will now close on Saturday 26th March. This awe-inspiring exhibition carries visitors on a captivating journey through time into the lost wonders of ancient Egypt and reveals the epic story of the discovery of the forgotten tomb of the ‘Boy King’, giving visitors the opportunity to look through Howard Carter’s eyes and experience the amazing moment of discovery for themselves. Over 4,000 square metres of exhibition space, replicas of 1,000 burial artefacts and state-of-the-art multimedia technology brings to life the story of Tutankhamun and the fascinating cultural and spiritual world of ancient Egypt. Visit www.tutankhamunmanchester.com for more info.
Egypt at the Manchester Museum 