More than 90 artefacts from the lost city of Pompeii are set to go on show in Canberra as part of a new blockbuster exhibition at the National Museum of Australia. Immersive soundscapes and large-scale digital projections will transport visitors to the 2-thousand-year-old Roman city before and after it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption.
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00:00The streets and citizens of Pompeii, and the fury and power of Mount Vesuvius.
00:11That's what the National Museum of Australia has recreated in Canberra for its summer exhibition.
00:16There's just something incredibly exciting about the story of ancient civilisations,
00:23and Pompeii is just one that's writ large in people's imaginations.
00:28The 360-degree recreation of the eruption in 79 CE is accompanied by soundscapes and large-scale projections,
00:36and more than 90 artefacts on loan from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.
00:42The combination telling Pompeii's story before the city was buried under, and preserved by, volcanic ash.
00:49Seeing Mount Vesuvius almost looming over you has a really strong presence in this exhibition,
00:53exactly like it has in the Bay of Naples.
00:56And then also this sense of being able to walk up the street of ancient Pompeii, but also through the archaeological excavations.
01:02Those involved in developing the exhibition say it's about rewriting the museum experience,
01:08combining objects behind glass and on open display with digital technologies and scientific contributions.
01:15This exhibition of Pompeii even incorporates recent research,
01:20including by trailblazing Australian archaeologist Dr Estelle Laser.
01:25It relates to these resin replicas of 19th century plaster casts, Pompeians in their final moments.
01:32For a long time there's been quite emotional interpretations and understanding of these two people and their relationships,
01:38whether they were mother and daughter or they were lovers.
01:41It seems they're actually two young men.
01:44We were able to discuss, for example, some of our exhibition interpretation with Estelle Laser as well,
01:49because we know that she's in touch with the most up-to-date research.
01:52Pompeii is at the NMA until May next year.