QUÉBEC, June 20,
2024 /CNW/ - The Musée de la civilisation
invites you to discover the life of gladiators starting
June 21! This great new international exhibition brings you
back in time to take a look in the day-to-day lives of these
legendary warriors who looked like demigods, Gladiators: Heroes
of the Colosseum is conceived and produced by Contemporanea
Progetti and Expona, curated by Dr. Rossella Rea, archaeologist and former director
of the Colosseum of Rome, in
collaboration with Dr. Federica
Rinaldi (Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, Rome), Dr. Sara Colantonio and
Dr. Carlotta Caruso (National Roman Museum, Rome).
Gladiators, often represented in movies, comics and books, are
fascinating. But is the image of the barbarians who only care about
fighting and often die quickly and cruelly in the Roman
amphitheatres accurate? This exhibition gives you a unique point of
view on these gladiators, showing the complexity of their atypical
lives by showing you their humanity. It presents exceptional
objects, some coming from the biggest Roman amphitheatre that has
ever existed, the Colosseum in Rome, that also reveals all its secrets.
Thousands of gladiators fought, thousands of animals were hunted
down . . . It's their story that is shared in these
objects that come from prestigious Italian museums, testimonies and
recent excavations.
Quotes:
"It's always with great pride that we welcome an important
international exhibition at the Musée de la civilisation. First of
all, what a pleasure it is to be able to show the public these
exceptional contents that take us straight to ancient Italy! It shows how our institution, its
expertise and our city are trusted by the prestigious organizations
with which we collaborate on this project." Stéphan La Roche,
Chief Executive Officer, Musée de la civilisation
"For over twenty years we have been working in the world
cultural field to promote, enhance and spread the excellence of the
Italian artistic and cultural heritage both in Italy and abroad by means of travelling
exhibitions. Over the years we have developed and organized
cultural events in Europe, in
North-Central and South America,
in Asia and Australia. It's been a real pleasure to
collaborate with such a high level institution as the Musee de la
Civilization here in Quebec
City." Alex Susanna, President,
Expona
"Together with the former director of the Colosseum,
Rossella Rea, we started the
development of the concept of this Gladiators exhibition, almost 10
years ago. As the result of a long concept and design work, the
Gladiators exhibition has already had important international
awards in the past years and has been hosted in important museums
in Europe as well as in
the United States and Australia. Today we are delighted to introduce
our Gladiators exhibition here at the Musée de la Civilization in
Quebec City, to allow you all
explore the fascinating world of Gladiators during the Roman Ages."
Federica Montani, Head of
exhibitions, Contemporanea Progetti
"The subject of gladiators is extremely appealing and has always
sparked a great interest, not only with researchers, but also with
the public. In fact, gladiators embody the essence of mass
entertainment and became, despite themselves, an element of
"popular" culture. But how many people can say that they really
know them? And how many only know gladiators through the lens of
literature and cinema which portrays a false and imagined
narrative? The goal of this exhibition is to show the true face of
gladiators, to rebuild their world in its fascinating complexity.
It allows us to look at antiquity and rediscover the people who
have lived through it, make them present and alive again by
recognizing in them a part of who we are."
Dr. Sara
Colantonio, Museo Nazionale Romano and member of the
scientific committee of the exhibition.
Highlights:
- Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum is presented at the
Musée de la civilisation with a $500,000 financial support from the Government of
Québec and the Ville de Québec under the Cultural Development
Agreement.
- Showcased in an enchanting design, the
historical artefacts stand beside modern reproductions, made
according to thorough scientific documentation, and other
multimedia devices. People who are passionate about the subject
will even be able to wear the different costumes and accessories
that characterize the different types of gladiators.
- Among the 160 beautiful pieces, making the exhibition's corpus
and with many pieces coming from the archaeological sites of the
Colosseum of Rome,
from Paestum and from Pompeii, there are:
- helmets, greaves, weapons
- surgical instruments that were used to treat the wounded after
combat
- the portrait of some Roman emperors who have marked the
evolution of this type of combat daily objects (utensils,
amphora, oil vials, lamps)
- coins featuring great Roman emperors
- gold jewels.
The objects are from the
collections of these prestigious institutions:
-
- Civico Museo Archeologico (Milan)
- Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Florence)
- Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Naples)
- Museo Nazionale Romano (Rome)
- Parco Archeologico del Colosseo (Rome)
- Parco Archeologico di Paestum e Velia (Paestum)
- Parco dell'Anfiteatro Romano e Antiquarium "Alda" (Milan)
- The content of the exhibition Gladiators: Heroes of the
Colosseum was developed under the guidance of archaeologist
Rossella Rea, director of the
Colosseum of Rome from 1995 to
2017.
- The Italian firm CONTEMPORANEA PROGETTI is a part of the
international circuit of touring exhibition design and production
houses and EXPONA ensures its diffusion with the world's leading
museums.
- Since 2013, Gladiators: Heroes of the
Colosseum has been presented in Germany, in Liechtenstein, in Finland, in Belgium, in Danemark, in France, in the
Netherlands, in Australia
and in the United States,
attracting thousands of people. In 2015, the Canadian War Museum,
in Ottawa, presented a more modest
version of this exhibition. Its content has since expanded.
- The international exhibitions Pompeii. Immortal
City (2021–2022) and Time of Pharaohs (2022–2023) have
generated a lot of traffic in the Musée de la civilisation and have
respectively generated an appreciation rate of 90% and 88%.
- Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum will be
presented from June 21, 2024, to September 22, 2024.
Affiliated links:
Musée de la civilisation:
www.mcq.org
Contemporanea Progetti: www.contemporaneaprogetti.it
Expona: www.expona.net
SOURCE Musée de la civilisation