Probably 10 years since I last visited British Museum. Am truly glad they have 'looted' so much from all parts of the world - BM has done an amazing job researching, preserving and displaying these items, which I am fairly certain will have been destroyed in the original countries.
And unless you have as wide a collection like this, you cant really pull off an exhibition called 'a history of time - seen from 100 items'!!! Its really like time wrap going through the show. In fact, some of the exhibition rooms were like a rich man's mansion, with a carefully curated set of curiosities lining the walls of grand halls and living rooms - a great way to display!
Was mesmerized by how BM presents the Enlightment Period, when people felt they can only further progress by learning more from the past, hence the move to study rise/fall of nations, their histories, etc.
The disappointment is really the main show - Book of the Dead from Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian spells, their ideas of after life, etc., are all captivating, but the works shown felt the same as those in the upper floors, and its way too crowded for one to enjoy. And they charge 12 GBP for it!
PS - Foster's connecting hall structure was a nice addition to BM - felt very much like IM Pei's Lourve work; for a moment I thought it was Pei's!
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