Egypt’s highly-anticipated Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza partially opened to the public today, as part of a trial run before its official opening.
The museum welcomed the public to 12 exhibition galleries for its trial period. Its final opening date is not yet set.
The Grand Egyptian Museum extends across 120 acres, making it one of the largest museums in the world. It will display over 100,000 artefacts, such as sarcophagi, statues, and paintings.
The collection will feature treasures from Tutankhamun’s tomb, including the young pharaoh’s mummified body. However, these galleries are not part of the trial run. Tutankhamun’s treasures were insured for US$900 million in 2019.
While construction on the museum began in 2012, its completion has been delayed several times, most notably due to the weak Egyptian pound, covid, and political turmoil.
Art Basel Paris kicks off
Meanwhile, Art Basel Paris began in the French capital today. The art fair, held at the newly renovated Grand Palais, will bring in 195 galleries from October 16-20.
The art market has been in a slump in recent years, with Sotheby’s auction sales down by 25% in the first half of 2024.
But Art Basel Paris’ first day reported solid sales. The top seller was Julie Mehretu’s painting Insile, sold by White Cube for US$9.5 million.
The priciest work for sale at Art Basel Paris is Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematism, 18th construction, which was sold for US$33 million in 2015.
Other galleries and museums to watch
Artissima, Italy’s premier contemporary art fair, will feature 189 galleries in Turin from October 31-November 3. Its highest-priced works last year went for EU€100,000.
ART x Lagos, West Africa’s leading art fair, will also run from October 31-November 3, showcasing galleries and films from across the region.
The National Museum of Indonesia reopened on Tuesday, one year after a fire devastated the Jakarta site. Its newest major exhibition displays looted artefacts that have been recently repatriated, including the opulent jewel hoard known as the “Lombok treasure”.