The World Between: Egypt and Nubia in Africa

Featuring loans from multiple museums in the U.S. and Canada, the exhibition demonstrates the complex interaction of different cultures in Egypt and Nubia, from prehistory (ca. 3800 BCE) through the Post-Meroitic era (600 CE). It explores what kind of social and cultural worlds connected Egypt with its southern neighbor and Egypt’s relationships with other African cultures of its time. While contemporary scholarship acknowledges the indigenous origin of Egyptian culture, its story is still rarely told from an African perspective. This exhibition featuring 70 works including pottery, bronze sculpture, stele fragments, ceramics, jewelry, and clay, marble, gold, and quartz items aims to highlight the deep cultural embeddedness of ancient Egypt in Africa, beyond merely acknowledging its geographical position on the continent. What did Egypt owe to other African cultures in Nubia and, inversely, what did it bequeath to them?

Curated by Anastasia Dakouri-Hild, Professor of Art History at the University of Virginia (UVA), and the students in her course Introduction to Museum Practice: Egypt & Nubia: Grace Sophia Dexter, Tyler Glenn, Gabriela Hernandez, Annabelle Lawton, Ainsley McGowan, Lelia Morrell, and Margot Sovocool. Additional support was provided by the following students: Grace Delaar, Thomas Demichele, Grace Saunders, and Audrey Yin.