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Date Published: 13/01/2022

Alicante to host international gladiators exhibition with pieces from the Roman Colosseum

Some of the artifacts that will be displayed at Alicante's Archaeological Museum have never been exhibited outside of Italy

The Provincial Archaeological Museum of Alicante (MARQ) will host an ambitious exhibition 'Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum' from mid-April to October with 160 original pieces from a dozen Italian exhibition centres and institutions, including the Colosseum in Rome.

The exhibition, which will be formally presented at the International Tourism Fair in Madrid (FITUR-2022) on January 20, will be on display in the three temporary exhibition halls at the Alicante museum after visiting numerous countries including Australia, America, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Holland and France, and viewed by between 100,000 and 300,000 visitors in each location.

The 160 displayed pieces all come from Italian museums and cultural institutions and some of them had never left Italy before this collection, according to MARQ's vice-president and the provincial council's head of culture, Julia Parra, who confirmed the city council has invested 600,000 euros to host the travelling exhibition.

The museum intends to take an "innovative approach" with "attractive interactive and audiovisual features" to interest young visitors.

"The collection is magnificent and will dismantle some of the stereotypes that the cinema has portrayed about gladiators. The world of the gladiators will be shown as it was," added director of the archaeological museum, Manuel Olcina.

News of the imminent gladiators' exhibition will compensate in part for the lack of the long-awaited Warriors of Xi'an display of terracotta pieces, which has been postponed once again due to the Chinese government's decision to wait for the health situation to improve.

MARQ's executive committee and board of trustees have unanimously agreed to continue negotiations with the Chinese museums that own the pieces and with the embassies of both countries so that the collection can come to Alicante, once "the health conditions are adequate" for the Chinese authorities.

A budget of 1.6 million euros has been set aside "for the right moment to host the exhibition".

Image: Archive

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