Terracotta warriors arrive at Te Papa
The Terracotta Warriors have arrived at Te Papa in Wellington and are being prepared for show.
The 2300-year-old imperial icons have travelled more than 10,000 kilometres from Xi’an, China and came with a $2.6 million price tag for the museum.
On November 22, each crate of precious cargo was brought into the national museum for the show Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality which opens on December 15 and runs until April 22.
The warriors are ancient treasures from the tomb of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, accompanied by a collection of about 160 extravagant treasures from imperial tombs in and around China’s ancient capital of Xi’an.
It is the first international exhibition to be held in Te Papa’s new art gallery, Toi Art, which opened this year. Te Papa is calling it ‘‘unmissable’’.
A formal private po¯ whiri and blessing will take place ahead of the public opening.
Until then, a team of Te Papa installers, mount makers, conservators, exhibition designers, curators, and technicians, alongside four colleagues from China, will be installing the ancient treasures in their new temporary home. Eight life-sized warriors and two horses feature.
Te Papa’s head of art Charlotte Davy said they were honoured to be the kaitiaki for the incredible works of art. ‘‘I’m blown away by the epic stories behind these ancient items.
‘‘It’s awe-inspiring to think that they were created before the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra, the construction of the Colosseum in Rome, and the major eruption of Taupo¯ in New Zealand.’’
Te Papa has commissioned a New Zealand artist to create an
‘‘I’m blown away by the epic stories behind these ancient items.’’
Te Papa’s head of art Charlotte Davy
artwork in response to the visit of the ancient terracotta warriors from Xi’an, and local artist Kerry Ann Lee has created the installation Return to Skyland.
‘‘It was important to us to have a contemporary response by a Chinese New Zealander, and to support the production of new artworks by New Zealand’s best artists,’’ Davy said.
Lee’s work is displayed within the exhibition space of Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality.