Art
The Shanghai Museum is inviting visitors to bring their pet cats on special tours this summer as it kicked off a major exhibition on ancient Egyptian civilization on Wednesday which features feline-themed artifacts.
With nearly 800 pieces of artifacts on display at the Egyptian exhibition, the museum is opening evening tours from Tuesday to Friday during summer as regular time slot tickets were already sold out.
For evening slots, the museum is hosting 10 special cat-themed tours which allow the entrance of pet cats.
Organizers hope touring the Egyptian exhibition, seeing ancient cat statues as well as the cat goddess Bastet, and participating in interactive activities would be an equally unique experience for house cats and their owners.
"The Temple of Bastet was discovered at the archaeological site of Saqqara. So we planned the cultural and creative activity based on this theme. Having cats inside the museum is also a challenge for us. We want to ensure the safety of cultural artifacts while we host this event, so we are inviting many professional organizations to support us on this," said Li Feng, deputy director of the museum.
The exhibition, titled "On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt," was jointly sponsored by the Shanghai Museum and the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, and will run 13 months.
The museum is gradually releasing over 1,000 cultural and creative products themed around the Egyptian exhibition. It has also introduced VR activities and boat tours themed around the event.