12/01/2010

While waiting for radio...an exhibition. Overrated!

Overcrowded, overpriced, overrated.
The Victoria & Albert Museum magic formula: a good poster and marketing, a fancy set for the start of the exhibition, a few objects (and I mean few), paintings or drawings doing for the missing objects, some short videos and a lot of merchandising at the shop. The Maharaja exhibition raises a lot of expectations, like all other exhibitions they do. But knowing how rich the Indian kings' culture was/is you can only be disappointed. The Sunday Times described it as a "tremendous" exhibition. I wonder if we saw the same exhibition. It felt a bit like when E. commented the royal jewels exhibition at the Tower of London: "Is this all?" and "This is all fake!". At the Maharaja's there are a few interesting displays though. A few amazing jewels and clothes. But too little. The rest is a lot of beautiful drawings making for the lack of artefacts. And then you need to queue to read the texts. So I quitted and just had a quick look at everything. But the shop is there at the end with a rich display of objects they want you to buy. All this for 11 GBP. Better go to the medieval section of the museum. Free, better would be to be paid if the overall price we bear to have a free museum is to have disappointing temporary exhibitions. In the medieval section they have among others this huge column of some roman emperor. I wonder if they have paid for it or if they just "borrowed' it.

Another fait divers: The Sherlock Holmes is worth watching. Another good story with the detective, fantastic performance by Robert Downey Jr and the cemetery scene takes place at the Old Brompton cemetery just around my place. Where I take my nephews to see the squirrels. They didn't get what we were doing at the cemetery (my nephews, not the squirrels) as in Portugal a cemetery is a sacred place or close ot it. But I like it.

2 comments:

shweta said...

Miggy - your comment is spot on! ...that £11 would have been put to better use for a ticket to India. However, if you find nothing in India - you know where they are - 'borrowed' elsewhere!

I hope the book provides more than the exhibition.

Take care. x

Cão Traste said...

Yep the book is great. The last disappointment with exhibitions was the Tutankhamon at 02. 25 GBP. I could have spent almost the same going to Cairo and getting the real thing.