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Petrie Museum awarded capital grant to transform visitor entrance
Together with support from the Petrie Museum Endowment Fund, this grant will go towards creating a more welcoming and physically accessible space for visitors when they arrive.
The new entrance will provide an introduction to the world-class Petrie collection of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology, and celebrate the life and work of the museum’s founders, Flinders Petrie and Amelia Edwards.
Petrie (1853-1942) is often referred to as the Father of Modern Egyptology; he pioneered new scientific methods that changed the face of archaeology. However, his accomplishments would not have been possible without the support of a trailblazing woman, Amelia Edwards.
In addition to funding Petrie’s work, Edwards (1831-1892) established the UK’s first professorship of Egyptian Archaeology at UCL, to which Petrie was appointed, and co-founded the Egypt Exploration Society. Her collection of Egyptian artefacts formed the basis of the Petrie Museum collection.
This major redesign of the museum’s entrance, which starts later this year, will create a dedicated space to tell the story of Petrie and Edwards together at the museum for the first time.
The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaelogy is one of the greatest collections of ancient Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world. Home to more than 80,000 objects, it also hosts a rich programme of events and exhibitions in collaboration with artists and researchers.
- DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvements Fund
2019 marks the thirteenth round of a joint fund which DCMS runs in partnership with the Wolfson Foundation. The fund aims to provide capital funding for museums and galleries across England to deliver projects in one or a number of the following key areas:
- Material improvements to the display and interpretation of collections, in both permanent galleries and exhibition spaces
- Improvements to access and/or interpretation for visitors with disabilities
- Physical improvements to public spaces to enhance visitor experience
- Improvements to environmental controls, collections storage and conservation facilities to enhance the care of collections
About the Wolfson Foundation
The Wolfson Foundation is an independent charity that supports and promotes excellence in the fields of science, health, education and the arts and humanities, including awarding the Wolfson History Prize, the UK’s foremost history prize. Since it was established in 1955, over £900 million (£1.9 billion in real terms) has been awarded to more than 11,000 projects throughout the UK, all on the basis of expert review.
