Ramses exhibition breaks records for Australian Museum

It’s not often that a blockbuster exhibition lives up to expectations but Rameses & The Gold of the Pharaohs has done that and more.

With expectations of 400,000 attendees over its exclusive six month run at the Australian Museum the show has now exceeded that number and there is still almost two months to run.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if we are well over 450,000 by now, and by the time we close on the May 19, I expect by then that we will be well over 500,000,” Kim McKay AO, Director and CEO, Australian Museum said.

“I like to exceed expectations.”

McKay was appointed to the Australian Museum in 2014.

The show has not only set a record for Sydney, but has also surpassed he attendance numbers for Houston and San Francisco.

“We are the fourth city in the world to take the show and we have done much better numbers than Houston or San Francisco,” McKay said.

“Paris did 850,000, but that is right in the heart of Europe and many countries can visit there.”

But Sydney may not have received the Rameses exhibition if it had not been for a long personal relationship between museum director McKay and the former Egyptian Minister for Antiquities, Zhahi Hawass.

“I have known Zahi for 24 years from when I was working at National Geographic in Washington in 2000 and he was the explorer in residence at the time,” McKay said.

“We worked on many documentaries about Egypt with him and we travelled to Egypt on occasions filming.”

Hawass is known to most Australians by face if not name for his many appearances in documentaries over years.

“It’s like you meet someone and you work with them and establish a rapport and they trust you, so when word that Tutankamun was possibly going to tour he asked if I would like it,” McKay said.

“Of course I said ‘yes’ knowing that I didn’t have a big enough touring hall at the time.

“This led to the restoration of the museum, and then Covid happened.”

The Tutankamun exhibition was locked down in London for so long that the Egyptian government eventually recalled it to Cairo, putting an end to Sydney’s hopes.

“And then he phones me and said that they were working on another exhibition of Ramses and would I like it?

“I said ‘yes’.” McKay said.

Ramses has not only been good for the Australian Museum but also the state economy.

“Just the numbers coming through our doors, and this is during the cost of living crisis, and people have chosen this exhibition because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” McKay said.

“For Egypt touring exhibitions like this are really important and Zahi is particularly good at understanding this.

“You expose your culture and your history to the world in this way and the profits are fed back into their preservation program and the upgrading of their museums.”

To accommodate the extra demand the Australian Museum has extended hours from 9am to 9pm daily, except for Friday to Sundays when the hours are 9am to 5pm.

Likewise expert talks and tours have been increased until closing on May 19 and include A Gateway to Egypt programs, Breakfast Behind the Scenes, the Saturday Lecture series Exploring Ancient Egypt and Tomb Talks.

On the day that we speak, Kim McKay is delighted by the sounds of children outside her window for the school holidays “is just insanely packed.”

Until May 19

Australian Museum, College St, Sydney

australian.museum/