Tut for profit

The LA Times takes a look at a big, but hardly new, issue:

Now, the profit-and-loss potential of blockbuster exhibitions is grounds for increasing debate in a museum world straining to reconcile traditional scholarly ideals with new fiscal realities and populist imperatives. Anxieties are spiking with the advent of Tut II, officially "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs." The show is a profit-making venture financed by AEG (formerly known as Anschutz Entertainment Group), which owns and operates Staples Center and is the world's second-largest promoter of rock concerts. The show runs June 16 through Nov. 15 at LACMA, the first stop on a 27-month U.S. tour that will proceed to the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Chicago's Field Museum of natural history; and the Franklin Institute, a science museum in Philadelphia.

King Tut's return is believed to be the most expensive touring museum exhibition ever brought to the United States — for its backers and ticket-buyers alike

Posted by David on May 24, 2005 9:24 PM