AGO Members share their reactions to King Tut (Video)
December 22nd, 2009
“My favorite part of the exhibition was probably the jewelry and the remnants from the tombs — they’re interesting,” … “My favorite was the cat coffin,” … “I really enjoyed the last part of the exhibition where they talked about the uncovering of the grave and the tomb and the gold,” …
Update Jan 6:
Here’s some images from King Tut Crowds
A Warm “Thank You” From Anubis
December 15th, 2009
Anubis is very thankful to the wonderful people who have helped dress him so far this fall and provided him with some incredibly stylish winter ensembles. Over the past few months he has also seen some wonderful places like Niagara Falls, Casa Loma, City Hall and Northern Ontario. He even tried out snowmobiling up in Collingwood (and got some strange looks from local dogsledders)!
While in town he’s also been working part time to get to know in the city – so far he’s been mime, a professional model, A spokesman for the Canadian Olympics, a Godzilla double and local basketball player and is eager to try out some other lines of work.
Anubis’ having trouble finding a dry cleaner do to his unusual size and needs some more outfits. He hopes it wouldn’t be to rude of him to ask you if you could continue to outfit him? He also would love to see more places that you suggest!
So please keep sending in your photos! Everyone who submits a photo will be entered into a draw to win two tickets to see King Tut!
You can submit your picture three ways:
1) Post it to the AGO’s FACEBOOK fan page
2) Post it in the AGO Anubis Flickr pool
3) Email it to AGOMOBILE@ago.net
When you submit your photo, please indicate how you’d like to be credited for your work. And remember by submitting you are giving the AGO permission to display your work on www.ago.net and all other promotional/PR vehicles.
King Tut: Listening to our visitors
December 11th, 2009
Public response to King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs has been overwhelmingly positive, with nearly 100,000 tickets sold thus far. Among the highlights according to visitors, King Tut’s funerary objects – the golden sandals and finger and toe coverings – as well as the golden jewelry (a particular favourite of young women). Visitors also like the tomb-like layout of the exhibition, the extensive historical information and the easily visible labels.
Some of our visitors who saw the 1979 King Tut exhibition at the AGO would have liked a return visit of King Tut’s golden death mask, which no longer leaves Egypt. However, the golden mask of Psusennes I in the current exhibition is an incredible example of a death mask. It is among the most valuable pieces in the exhibition and was discovered in the midst of World War II.
Some visitors are also asking about King Tut’s mummy, which, for preservation reasons, also never travels. While the National Geographic CT scan of the mummy provides a fascinating dimensional perspective, visitors can also get their “mummies’ worth” by catching the special 3-D movie, EGYPT 3D: Secrets of the Mummies, presented with Dolby 3D Digital Cinema technology. Part historic journey and part adventure, the film (a favourite with kids) follows explorers and researchers as they piece together archeological and genetic clues of the Egyptian mummies, including one of the greatest mummy finds in modern history. The film runs every 30 minutes between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the AGO’s Jackman Hall and is $5 for members, $6 for general public.
Visitors are also joining or creating their own communities around things Tut. As an example, check out Heritage Key, a new website (it first appeared last May) that’s focused on ancient civilizations and archaeology. One member of this interactive community visited the AGO exhibition and blogged about a virtual tour of other ancient artifacts that don’t leave Egypt.
How To Tut
November 13th, 2009
The exhibition King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs (showing at the AGO November 24, 2009-April 18, 2010) makes us want to get up and dance. But not just any dance…we want to Tut! And we want you to join us!
Professional dance artist Mark Cabuena from the Toronto dance crews “Grand Illusion” and “For the Funk of It” has choreographed a special “Tutting” routine that is easy and fun to learn! Watch the video above and practice the moves. You can use your new Tutting skills to impress family and friends… and you can help us set a world record! The AGO will be hosting a special Tutting Day in the New Year, where we invite everyone to perform Mark’s Tut routine with us and help us set a world record.
Stay tuned to the website for more information of this amazing and fun event happening at the AGO! Confirmed information (including registration) regarding the “Tutting” event on Sunday Feb. 28, 2010 will be posted on this website the first week of Jan. In the meantime, keep practicing.
More about the History of Tutting.
King Tut puts on a show for Halloween
November 13th, 2009
An AGO member is having some fun with Tut – he sent these photos and note to our membership department last week.
Hello membership desk – I'm looking forward to seeing King Tut but wanted to share with you our efforts to promote the event this Halloween. Despite raging winds, we were able to erect a 20-plus-foot pyramid complete with gilded top (silk gold sheet). The skeleton pharaoh had been up for a few weeks announcing the event–the rest was "camp" theatre–including dissections. "Anubis" was not only painted by my 70-year-old mother but enacted the whole night much to the dismay and wonderment of Parkdale residents.
We had much fun despite the effects of cold and H1 and were still beset by kids who came from blocks around. We did our best to always name the AGO as our source of inspiration and would love to have gotten my hands on the large Anubis that graces your entrance–but thought that might be pushing it.
— Mario, Toronto (AGO Member)
The Anubis Photo Challenge
October 27th, 2009
You might have noticed a visitor on the corner of Dundas Street and McCaul Street who is extremely hard to miss. He is 26 feet tall, weighs 7 tons, his name is Anubis and he’ll be in Toronto on business for the next several months welcoming all visitors to the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Canadian exclusive exhibition, King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs.
As with all visitors to Toronto, we want to make sure his stay with us is a great one and help him out in any way we can…and we’ve just found out he really needs help. Before his arrival at the end of September, Anubis was extremely busy with work (guarding the underworld and weighing the hearts of dead royalty to see if the person deserves an eternal existence) and he forgot all about the climate change between Egypt and Toronto. This oversight has unfortunately resulted in his packing some improper wardrobe items. Currently all he has to wear is a golden mini skirt and it’s getting pretty chilly out. Also, when leaving Egypt, he grabbed his golden staff but forgot to bring his travel guide! Silly Anubis.
How can you help? It’s easy!
Anubis needs help deciding what to wear and where to visit during his stay. We need you to show him some fashionable outfits that would look good on him. And like to the old saying goes….a picture is worth a 1000 words… so here is what we want you to do!
Download full sized images below
Download Instructions: Windows/PC: Right-click on the desired image and select ‘Save Image As…’ or ‘Save Picture As…’
Macintosh: Hold Ctrl while clicking on the desired image and select ‘Save Image As…’ or ‘Save Image to the Desktop’.
We’ve posted photos of Anubis on this page. Simply download one of the photos and save it to your computer. Then, while you’re at work, home, school or a friends place, using your favourite photo editing software and give Anubis some clothes appropriate for his visit…it can be anything you want!
Alternatively or at the same time, we want you to place Anubis in a typical Canadian setting….to give him an idea of where he should visit….maybe the CN Tower, or skiing on a mountain …it’s up to you!
You can submit your picture three ways:
1) Post it to our FACEBOOK fan page
2) Post it in the AGO Anubis Flickr pool
3) Email it to AGOMOBILE@ago.net
When you submit your photo, please indicate how you’d like to be credited for your work. And remember by submitting you are giving the AGO permission to display your work on www.ago.net and all other promotional/PR vehicles.
Everyone who submits a photo will be entered into a draw to win two tickets to see King Tut!
Good luck and thanks for helping out Anubis.
Memories of King Tut: “I saw this when…”
September 14th, 2009
Preparations continue to welcome King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs to the AGO for its exclusive Canadian appearance starting Nov. 24, 2009 (starting Nov. 21 if you’re an AGO member). We’ve been thrilled by the positive response here on the blog and on Facebook to our call to share your memories of the 1979 King Tut exhibition. Here’s a few more that have been submitted:
I saw this when I was 6 years old and it made such an impression on me that I can clearly remember the exhibit, especially the golden death mask. I’ve waited 30 years for it to come back! I urge anyone with an interest in history to go see this.
— AlisonK
I remember going with my family to the AGO exhibit in Toronto in 1979 when I was 9. A great experience and it coincided with a class project we did at the same time on Egypt that helped us all to learn more about its history.
— carl
I had a chance to see former King this past winter in Egypt and was amazed by the complexity of the ancient work. If you can make it to the gallery, it’s absolutely worth the trip. Welcome back to Canada King Tut!
— jonmac
I remember seeing the exhibit as part of a school trip in ’79 as an 11 year old – I always had hoped it would return to Toronto but gee I didn’t think it would take 30 years! Anyway better late than never – I can’t wait to see this.
— MontyClift
If you have stories of the 1979 exhibition, please share them in the comments! Here’s some nostalgia from our archives to jog your memory:
What is “Tutting”?
August 24th, 2009
According to Wikipedia:
‘Tutting’ refers to a distinct style gained usage during the early 1980s. Its movements made use of the wrists, elbows, and shoulders to create the desired right angle.
Presumably, the dance began as a mimicking of the angular poses common to ancient Egyptian art. Tutting as a whole or certain tutting moves have been referred to as ‘King Tut’; it is likely from this colloquialism for the Pharaoh Tutankhamen, as a representative of ancient Egypt in western popular culture, that the form gained its name.
Memories of King Tut: Nieces and Nephews
August 6th, 2009
Archival image from AGO, Treasures of Tutankhamun, 1979. Visitor’s looking at the “Leopard Skin Stool”.
© 2009 Art Gallery of Ontario
The AGO is preparing to welcome King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs for its exclusive Canadian appearance starting Nov. 24, 2009 (starting Nov. 21 if you’re an AGO member). So we’re inviting AGO members and friends everywhere to share their memories of the 1979 King Tut exhibition – please share your memories in the Comments below.
I just read that everybody’s favourite pharaoh is returning to the AGO and my daughter and I, Egyptophiles both, are just floating with excitement!
While I have delayed buying a membership, Tut with Benefits is the perfect incentive for us. I look forward to taking my nieces and nephews to see the wonders and be amazed just as I was as a child and then again in 1979.
When my daughter was ten, my friend and I completely redecorated her bedroom in “Egyptian Princess” style, complete with gold, lapis and carnelian canopy bed, trompe l’oeil walls and reproduction artifacts.
Congratulations to all of you for this great coup!
Best regards.
How old were you when you visited the exhibition? What did you learn about the boy king and ancient Egypt? What amazed you? And in your view, what makes the wonders of ancient Egypt so alluring today? We’ll all find out come this fall when King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs opens, featuring an almost entirely different selection of treasures and more than twice the number of artifacts as were displayed in the 1979 exhibition. Because this time, Tut is bringing his fellow pharaohs.
You will see more than 100 remarkable pieces from the tomb of King Tut and ancient sites representing some of the most important rulers throughout 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history. While we all wait for their story, share yours today!