Nefertiti Goes West

About

East of Elsewhere’s co-director Clementine Butler-Gallie presents Nefertiti Goes West, the inaugural event in the series At Homes. Inspired by the Bloomsbury Set’s intimate gatherings under the same name, the series takes the shape of one night only Salons. As the minds of Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey and Vanessa Bell used At Homes as a means to share their new ideas and current projects, East of Elsewhere will invite artists to host group discussions and presentations on a current project or point of interest that facilitates development into the next phase. To accompany all new ideas At Homes will always incorporate a sufficient amount of eating, drinking, and celebrating. 'Nefertiti Goes West' will offer Egyptian German cuisine and our own Nefertiti cocktail.

Nefertiti, the bride of the sun, the beautiful one has come ... to the West. 

'Nefertiti Goes West' will show Clementine’s archival research on the rebirth of Nefertiti’s image in Western culture through a photo essay and installation. 1912 invited the forgotten queen to enter a second lease of life in Berlin after being unearthed in Amarna by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. Since the unveiling of her true beauty at the Neues Museum in 1923, the debate of cultural colonisation has accompanied continuous requests from Egypt for her return. Whilst this battle continues, Nefertiti's beauty, and legacy as the first rebel queen, have been transformed into numerous cultural representations. Inspiring everything from a Miles Davis album to Beyonce’s pregnancy release photographs, Nefertiti has become a symbol for something much stronger than her beauty. The exhibit will highlight Nefertiti's impact on Western culture and vice versa. An installation of fabric covered with hieroglyph translations will hang within the space. The hieroglyphics denote topics raised by Nefertiti’s presence in the West such as the right of return of antiquities and the preservation of cultural heritage. As the words float around the guests' heads, the installation invites an organic discourse. 

The East of Elsewhere team will visit Egypt in December in order to continue the research into Nefertiti’s absence and representation in her country of origin. This research will be presented in a second salon in the new year.