About this Event
The Annual General Meeting of the Abertay Historical Society will take place at 6pm in lecture Theatre 2, Dalhouise Building, University of Dundee, followed by refreshments and then at 6.30pm a talk by Averil Anderson on Egyptology in Dundee – its origins to the present day. Non-members are welcome - donations are requested.
About the talk
Wealthy and well-connected Dundonians travelled the world in the late 19th and early 20th century for business and pleasure, and used some of their wealth to improve the cultural life of Dundee and its citizens. One such enterprise was the founding of the Albert Institute in 1862, now The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum. Their Egyptology collection began in the 19th century with donations from the newly formed Egypt Exploration Fund (EEF) and local collectors who travelled to Egypt including Sir James Caird, Dr Thomas Wise and the Rev Dr Colin Campbell.
The history of the collection is as fascinating as the collection itself with the documentation of that time now being accessioned alongside the objects. This diverse collection includes EEF memoirs, letters and photographs relating to the collection as well as amulets, stelae, funerary objects, jewellery, magic lantern slides and a rare image of Princess Neferure.
About the speaker
As a child Averil was fascinated by Egyptology and after a visit to Egypt in 1990 with her husband Ian, they both fell in love with the place. In 2007 she attended the Bloomsbury Summer School Hieroglyph Course and while there heard about the Egyptology course at the University of Manchester. She signed up for it that weekend and graduated in 2015.
Since 2011 she has been a volunteer at The McManus's Museum Collections Unit, specifically working on the Egyptology collection. Averil has presented at a number of conferences including the First Vatican Coffin Conference, the Fitzwilliam Museum Coffin Conference and the British Egyptology Congress in Manchester. Her papers have been published in the Proceedings First Vatican Coffin Conference Volume 1 and in the British Egyptology Congress 4 Proceedings.
Averil still manages to volunteer at The McManus alongside her role as a Health & Wellbeing Co-ordinator with Leisure & Culture Dundee.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill, Dundee, United Kingdom
USD 0.00