Marching through the British Museum, barging past the gaggles of school groups, I was on a mission. A mission to get through the doors of ‘Vikings’ – the new exhibition housed in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery.
Like many of us, I had eagerly been waiting for the moment I could burst through those pristine glass doors and find myself lost in a sea of Viking reliquary…but, after exiting through what was a brilliant gift shop, I felt somewhat deflated.
Source: bbc.co.uk
Setting the scene is a vital component in capturing an audience’s attention, and sadly, ‘Vikings’ was lacking. The exhibition space is painted steel grey, to represent the landscape, metal… one can’t be sure, but there must be a very good historical reason for such a dull setting. There were trios of images of the Scandinavian landscape dotted about, which were in truth the highlight of the first room. They were beautiful, and I only wish the Curators had blown them up larger, or projected them onto the walls, to really set the scene of where the Vikings came from.
“… there must be a very good historical reason for such a dull setting.”
Unless you studied or have an unabashed obsession with Viking history chances are, like me, your knowledge is hazy at best. Even though there were plenty of artefacts on display, the descriptions and contextual information for each was pretty much absent. Case upon case of very similar objects only added to my frustrations. I like to feel history penetrate my skin. I want to know what an object is, how it was worn or used, how it was made, etc. But as I looked upon another cabinet of brooches, I was silently screaming for a snippet of context; ‘Ok, I guess that’s a brooch, but how was it worn?’. I still don’t know.
The rooms were dark and felt quite clinical and sparse. Frustrated, I couldn’t help feeling that the mark had been completely missed. What would children make of it? There was no opportunity for interaction or engagement, and let’s face it, kids get bored easily.
I felt a little appeased by the fact that any minute, I would turn the corner and see the jewel in the exhibits crown; Roskilde 6. Discovered in 1997, it is the longest Viking vessel ever found, built around 1020.
Source: standard.co.uk
At 37 metres long, it is a striking centrepiece of the exhibition. But, I felt cheated as sadly only a fifth of original timber hull remains. The skeleton of Roskilde had been recreated in…metal, which hides the majority of the wooden boat. Personally, I would have thought a complete recreation of a cross section of the ship would have been more educationally beneficial.
In all fairness, the room containing Roskilde 6 was infinitely more interesting than the first half of the exhibition. If anything, there was a little bit of colour. However, frustratingly, some of the best artefacts, like a Viking sheild, were positioned in such odd places that you easily would’ve missed them.
As far as recommendations go, I probably would recommend a visit (sans children). Despite my misgivings, it is the first Viking exhibition at the British Museum for 30 years; so who knows when their next one will be! And hey, at least the myth was well and truly busted; Vikings definitely did not wear horned helmets!
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