L.A. museum tries unnatural history
New exhibition is built on items from a `Game of Thrones' prequel
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is about to be taken over by dragons as the exhibition “House of the Dragon: The Targaryen Dynasty” opens Aug. 5 and runs through Sept. 7.
The downtown Los Angeles venue is teaming with HBO for a dragonfilled pop-up exhibition inspired by the network's new drama series, “House of the Dragon,” a prequel to the popular “Game of Thrones.” The show is scheduled to premiere on HBO and be available for streaming on HBO Max on Aug. 21. It's set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones” and tells the story of House Targaryen.
“We thought it was a really interesting opportunity to give folks a new reason to visit the museum and get up close and personal to the world of Westeros,” said Suzi Hofrichter, corporate partnership officer for the museum.
The 2,500-square-foot exhibition will feature dozens of items from the show such as costumes, a dragon skull, dragon eggs and weapons. For those looking for a selfie, there will be a replica of a new Iron Throne on display, and visitors are welcome to sit upon it.
The exhibition will also include educational elements like tutorials on Valyrian, the fictional language used in “Game of Thrones.” Museum officials hope fans will take the opportunity to check out some of the real life creatures on display in the museum as well.
“We're big believers in seeing mythology as an interesting way into science,” Hofrichter said. “It's a really interesting entry point for people to come about a show they're interested in and to use that to get them into the museum and explore some of our dinosaur collections, some of the lizards that have possibly inspired aspects of the dragon.”