Hieroglyphs to Hype: Tracing Ancient Egypt's Influence in Modern Culture

This exhibition will explore the enduring fascination with ancient Egyptian art and culture (dubbed “Egyptomania” by 19th-century Europeans) through a selection of ancient artifacts, paintings, prints, photographs, and decorative art ranging from the early 19th century through the present day. These objects, from the humble to the refined, from the shamelessly commercial to the Afrofuturist, represent the range of artistic responses to – and misconceptions about – ancient Egyptian visual culture. Paradoxically, this enthusiasm for Egyptian symbols and motifs contributed to the erasure of the ancient Egyptian people themselves, as their beliefs and customs became exoticized in popular memory. The exhibition will examine how these objects reflect the phenomenon of “Egyptomania” during the last two centuries, and will position their over-simplified or stereotypical narratives in conversation with current archeological understanding about ancient Egyptian culture. 

The exhibition is curated by Megan Paqua (adjunct instructor of ancient Egyptian archaeology and art history and Fairfield University Art Museum Registrar). It will be the third exhibition co-curated with Fairfield University undergraduate students participating in the upcoming Fall 2025 Museum Exhibition seminar course.

Image: Charles-Theodore Frère, Along the Nile, ca. 1870, oil on panel. Gift of Michael T. Vigario, ’08, 2023.11.01