In front of the marble mausoleum of French archaeologist Auguste Mariette in the garden of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square there gathered a large group of archaeologists, along with journalists and top government officials. They had been invited by Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim to celebrate the Museum's 111th anniversary and to witness the announcement of its renovation. Following the destruction that occurred inside the museum in the aftermath of the 25 January Revolution, the museum's internal halls are in dire need of restoration. Lotfi Abdel-Hamid, director-general of the Egyptian Museum, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the renovation work aimed at removing the dust of time in the museum's internal halls and returning it to its original glory by painting the walls and covering the floors with tiles in the original colours and patterns. The museum's internal walls were painted light green, he said, while the floor tiles, designed to look like soft limestone, were decorated with particular patterns. According to the restoration project, the lighting and security systems of the museum would be developed to meet international standards, and the showcases would be replaced with new ones that controlled humidity levels and provided a healthy atmosphere for the artefacts. The museum's window glass would be changed to control the light inside the museum and prevent the entry of harmful radiation. A new scenario for the objects on display within the exhibition spaces would also be among the development works planned, especially after the transfer of some of the museum's exhibits to the planned Grand Egyptian Museum overlooking the Giza Plateau, which is meant to be officially inaugurated in 2015. Abdel-Hamid told the Weekly that the museum's development and restoration project was being carried out by the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) in collaboration with the German government, with the latter providing the museological experts and the required funds. He went on to say that in order to provide a view of how the museum would look after the renovation, hall number 37 on the museum's first and second floors, which displays a collection of Old Kingdom artefacts and the first section of the Tutankhamun collection, would be renovated first. The renovation project is the result of Egyptian-German cooperation, and the head of the culture and education department at the German embassy in Cairo, Ramesh de Silva, said that the master plan had been financed by the German Cultural Preservation Fund and the Centre for International Migration and Development. De Silva said that 12 international experts had worked on the master plan. According to the plan, drawn up in 2008, the museum is to be transformed into a “cultural lighthouse” that will help Egyptians to rediscover their identity and features of the Egyptian personality. It will also renew the museum as an educational institution that will help revive the cultural awareness of the Egyptian people. The project aims to redesign the museum in order to re-envision the spaces in which the collection will be displayed and to develop exhibitions that will have the maximum educational impact on the public. Improvements to the museum's facilities will include the installation of new security and fire-safety systems, as well as an air-conditioning system and a lighting system that will include natural and artificial light sources. Updated communications technology will include connections for access to external and internal data networks. The plumbing and sanitation system will also be enhanced. A preliminary plan for the proposed enlargement of the museum, which will take into account its position in the urban environment, will also be developed. During the meeting this week, Ibrahim told attendees that the ministry was planning to demolish the blackened former headquarters of the former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), burned during the 25 January Revolution, which stands between the museum and the Nile, and replacing it with a botanical garden and open-air museum. A coffee shop and a bookstore would be set up in an attempt to provide visitors with a calm and pleasant atmosphere between the museum and the Nile, he said. Ibrahim declined to give an exact figure for the project's cost, but he said that it was likely to require some $4.3 million. “We are sending a positive message from Tahrir Square, which witnessed Egypt's revolution, to the whole world that Egypt is safe and well,” Ibrahim said in his speech on the anniversary of the museum. He added that the ministry's revenues, including entrance fees from tourist sites, had decreased from LE111 million in October 2010 to LE7 million in October 2013, and that this had had negative effects on the scheduled development projects of archaeological sites and the construction of planned museums. Negotiations are still going on between the MSA and the Cairo governorate in order to settle the fate of the burned National Democratic Party building. The land where the NDP building stands was originally part of the museum's garden. It was later taken from the museum in order to construct the NDP building.
