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UCL celebrates its Tutankhamun-themed collaboration with George Mitchell Primary School at Tut Fest
In September, the Petrie Museum took curatorial staff, 3D printed objects and Egyptology-themed games and activities to east London for Tut Fest. The event was planned as the culmination and celebration of the Museum’s work with the Year 3 students and their teachers at George Mitchell Primary School on the project ‘Tutankhamun the Boy: Growing up in Ancient Egypt’. Postponed from July due to strikes, Tut Fest was highly anticipated by the now Year 4 students, and everyone else involved, as the event sought to share the wider project with the whole school, parents, and local community.
Learning about ancient Egypt at Tut Fest
Mask decorating at Tut Fest
The mini museum at Tut Fest
Barley grinding at Tut Fest
Children from the workshop at the Amarna Visitor Centre
The skills exchange reception
Tut Fest began during school hours with the full attendance of over 400 children aged 5-11, with each class assigned different activities throughout the afternoon. Inside the school hall, there was a mini museum of 3D printed replicas of items from the Petrie collection, curated by the children. This was displayed alongside a loop of films from the school’s ‘Takeover Day’ in November 2022, where pupils visited the Petrie Museum to experience real museum work and see the display on childhood in ancient Egypt which they had contributed to.
In the playground, UCL hosted a range of hands-on activities about ancient Egypt, with volunteer support from across the university. The children took part in object handling, ancient Egyptian board games, barley grinding, mask decorating, hieroglyph writing, and clay Shabti making with the guidance of students from the UCL Slade School of Fine Art. There was also the opportunity to discover more about life at university, led by UCL’s Access and Widening Participation team. Tut Fest continued after school hours, allowing pupils to stay on and try other activities, and parents and guardians, siblings and other local children to join. The day was hugely popular and well attended, with parents expressing their support:
“It’s amazing the students are being exposed to a different culture”
“Having the university introduced to the students will inspire them”.
There was also great feedback from the children attending:
“I love learning about Egypt”
“I wish we did more things like this”.
The wider ‘Tutankhamun the Boy’ project has been ongoing for the last 16 months, incorporating Tut Fest, the Museum’s current display ‘Tutankhamun the Boy: Growing up in Ancient Egypt’, and a skills exchange with colleagues from Amarna, Egypt. The ‘Tutankhamun the Boy’ displays at the Museum were built in response to children’s questions about Tutankhamun, gathered from students at George Mitchell Primary School and in Amarna. The skills exchange also brought together colleagues from the Amarna Project and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) with museum curators and educators from across the UK to discuss learning and best practice in co-production and collaborative projects. Some of the key sessions from the skills exchange week have been recorded, with the intention to share these with wider international museum and Egyptology networks to enhance knowledge sharing and build a stronger global co-production network across these fields.
Anna Garnett, Curator of the Petrie Museum, said: “The ‘Tutankhamun the Boy’ project provided a unique opportunity for us to see the Petrie Museum through children’s eyes, which has encouraged us to see objects and collection histories in a different light. It has been a privilege to collaborate with colleagues in Egypt on the project and we look forward to developing these relationships further in the future.”
Furthermore, Gemma Tully, Project Co-ordinator for ‘Tutankhamun the Boy: Growing up in Ancient Egypt’, said: “Both Tut Fest and the skills exchange would not have been possible without a huge amount of internal UCL and volunteer support from across UCL's museums, Institute of Archaeology, UCL East and Widening Participation teams, as well as (of course) the dedication of the main project teams from WP and the Petrie Museum.”
The wider project was made possible with the generous support of the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, administered by the Museums Association on behalf of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and the Friends of the Petrie Museum.
