This is awesome for Victoria....but does anyone find it annoying how these type of world-class exhibits don't land in Vancouver? The only exhibit of this calibre in the city over the last 10 years is probably Body Worlds 3 at Science World in 2005/2006.
Someone move the Vancouver Museum to a proper and much bigger location!
http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/C...565/story.html
Chinese terracotta warriors coming to Victoria
By Grania Litwin, Times Colonist
January 27, 2010
China’s first emperor had thousands of terracotta warriors and chariots made to ensure his safe journey into the afterlife, but little did he know those entombed figures would be uncovered thousands of years later to travel around this world.
Eighteen of his famed clay warriors are coming to the Royal B.C. Museum next year as part of a four-museum Canadian tour.
“We are very, very excited — these figures are considered the eighth wonder of the world,” said exhibitions director Tim Willis. He was speaking from the Royal Ontario Museum where the announcement was made yesterday morning, and where the show kicks off.
The warriors and horses of Emperor Qin Shi Huang date back to 210 B.C. They were discovered after farmers near Xi’an turned up a clay head while digging a well in 1974. Experts soon unearthed 2,000 warriors, chariots, horses, generals, officials and acrobats in what has been called one of the most significant archeological finds of the 20th century. Only a fraction of the complex has been exposed, and there are thousands more figures still buried — perhaps even an entire underground city.
The Warrior Emperor and China’s Terracotta Army opens at the Ontario museum in June, then travels to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Calgary’s Glenbow and the Royal B.C. Museum in late 2011 to 2012. Exact dates have not been finalized. The exhibition includes 300 artifacts: life-sized clay soldiers, generals, charioteers, archers and servants, as well as bronze and clay animals, weapons and golden chariot fittings.
“It’s the largest number of artifacts ever included in a North American show and includes many items never seen outside China,” Willis said. “And the story itself is incredible, one that compares to Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Only the scale is so much greater it’s almost hard to conceive.”
Museum CEO Pauline Rafferty, currently in China meeting with officials, said the museum is extremely proud to have been chosen by the government of China as one of the presenting museums.
In addition to the cultural value, Tourism Minister Kevin Krueger said the show will likely give the economy a major boost, “particularly in the off-season.”
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist
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