Description
This presentation is a richly illustrated enquiry into the mid-19th century Nile voyage of Sir John Logan Campbell. Drawing on the Campbell Papers and Pictorial Collections held at Auckland War Memorial Museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira, this research interprets the achievements of a settler who was also one of New Zealand’s earliest travellers to Egypt. Campbell visited the ruins of ancient Pharaonic cities and was entranced by the obelisks there. To Campbell, the obelisk was the most admirable of Egyptian monuments: “clean, sharp, [and] beautifully proportioned.” Upon his return to New Zealand, Campbell commissioned several Egyptian-style public monuments in Auckland, the most ambitious of which is the immense obelisk for One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie), erected for Auckland’s centenary to commemorate Campbell’s admiration of “the achievements and character of the great Maori people” of Auckland (Tāmaki-makaurau). This presentation is a unique opportunity to examine the concept of travel on two levels: primarily through the journeysand experiences of an Antipodean traveller to Egypt, but also through an Egyptian influence on the landscape of colonial Auckland, manifest in Campbell’s commissions, which were a direct result of his travels.
| Period | May 2015 → … |
|---|---|
| Event title | Current Research in Egyptology symposium (16th : 2015) |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Oxford, United KingdomShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |