1 – 4 IX 2011, Poznań Archaeological Museum

From 1 to 4 September, 2011, the Poznań Archaeological Museum will host the conference of CIPEG (International Committee for Egyptology). It is an annual meeting of the curators of Egyptian collections from all over the world, gathered in one of the committees of ICOM (international organization of the museums). The fact that for four days Poznań will be an Egyptological  centre of universe, is due to the role of Poznań scientific milieu, and especially the Archaeological Museum. Thanks to the activity of Professor Lech Krzyżaniak, who directed the Museum for many years, it became a renown centre of research of the Nile valley (Egypt and the Sudan). The permanent Egyptian Gallery with the Exhibition “Death and Life in Ancient Egypt” created from his inspiration, based on the loans from Berlin and Munich, has become a constant point on a cultural map of the city.

By a peculiar chance Poznań is a host of the CIPEG conference in the year of dramatic events in Egypt. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo and other museums and sites in Egypt suffered from robbery and destruction that shocked the international audience. The issues of provenance, legal status of objects, security and display rules, illicit diggings and trade, etc. which were supposed to be discussed during the conference (organized this year under the heading “Ethics of Collecting”), have got an additional, unexpected dimension.