The Past is Present: Becoming Egyptian in the 20th century

Strange small exhibition at the British Museum looking at how Egyptians in the early 20th century used historical images to establish a national identity during British rule and after it became a republic in 1953.
 
The earliest example was the use of the pyramids of Giza in the branding of the first national newspaper from 1876. The first national Bank has used am emblem inspired by Cleopatra since 1920 and there was a nice large example of this.
 
The show also looked at smaller scale advertising with examples of enamelled adverts, cigarette packets, railways posters and luggage labels.

Closes on 22 July 2018


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