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.

"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.

• 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