Pompeii awakens in Canberra
This article is brought to you by National Museum of Australia.
Every 15 minutes at the National Museum of Australia’s Pompeii exhibition, lights flicker and rumbling sounds. The excitement and nerves from visitors are palpable. Whispers of “It’s coming! It’s coming!” can be heard. And then, something curious happens.
“I’ve come down to watch visitors during the eruption many times,” says Dr Lily Withycombe, the lead coordinating curator for the exhibition, who has also worked as an archaeologist in Pompeii.
“People run out of the different display areas where they’ve been looking at objects, frescos or videos and they stand together to watch. And then in the moment of the eruption, they actually cluster together. There’s a real sense of community and warmth in everyone coming together. It’s quite touching to see.”
After the eruption, which takes about 40 seconds, there’s what Withycombe describes as a great calm lasting 10 seconds. All the exhibition elements darken. There’s a strong feeling of catharsis. She describes the entire experience as compelling but also confronting. She has watched people be moved by it in countless ways.
“I always tell visitors, ‘Experience the eruption and watch it, but make sure you also watch people watching it,’” Withycombe says. “You get an insight into human behaviour in a disaster context in a safe space.”
Image credit: Martin Ollman/ National Museum of Australia
The ancient city’s story
Pompeii, which opened on 13 December 2024 and runs until 4 May 2025, tells the story of Mount Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 CE, which destroyed – but also preserved – the Roman city. Additionally, it shows what happened after the eruption – the part of Pompeii’s story not often told in other exhibitions: that it’s more than just a city frozen in time and that archaeologists continue to uncover its remains. It’s a city with a rich afterlife.
“The story of Pompeii is so important because archaeology was born here,” Withycombe says. “You see the entire evolution of archaeology from its earliest days up to the most cutting-edge research taking place there today. The site has given rise to the most interesting developments in archaeological theory and practice.”
Image credit: Martin Ollman/ National Museum of Australia
The exhibition is the fastest selling in the museum’s history. It features over 90 artefacts, including jewellery, sculptures, pottery and objects from everyday life. They’re featured alongside immersive soundscapes, large-scale digital projections and footage of their excavations – some of them taking place only in the last five years.
The artefacts, with dust from their excavations and footage showing their uncovering, tie in with the exhibition’s focus on archaeology and how far it has come since Pompeii was discovered in the 18th century. A conscious effort was put towards displaying artefacts representative of all community members, from the wealthy to the sub-elite. Bronze and silver dining items are displayed as well as materials that enslaved people used to cook.
Image credits: Martin Ollman/ National Museum of Australia
“We also have this room called the Fresco Room,” Withycombe says. “It shows you a sequence of frescos over 15 minutes. They come from some of the most beautiful buildings in Pompeii, but they’re given this slight animation and there’s interactivity. It lets visitors look at and connect with frescos in a way they’ll never have done before.”
Image credit: Martin Ollman/ National Museum of Australia
Intrigue and mystery
Recently, a delegation of archaeologists involved in uncovering Pompeii travelled to Australia to visit the exhibition. Withycombe was intrigued to see how they would experience and interact with it. They told her they were surprisingly moved by it.
“They said you can become quite desensitised when you live and work in Pompeii,” Withycombe says. “And actually, the exhibition and experiencing the immersive eruption made the experience of working there even more powerful for them. It was really interesting to hear their response.”
One untold story Pompeii the exhibition highlights is that of the residents who stayed. Evidence shows most of the people living in Pompeii would have managed to escape, but some didn’t. Rather than running, some chose to stand firm. Withycombe says it’s a fascinating case study of how people act in environmental disasters, events we unfortunately are far too familiar with today.
“We can’t understand exactly why they chose to remain, but there’s this compelling link between people and home,” she says. “We can connect with them on that human level. We can empathise and relate with them.”
Image credit: Martin Ollman/ National Museum of Australia
More to uncover
Roughly one-third of Pompeii is still to be excavated. The archaeological park prefers to leave it untouched for future generations to dig up. They’d rather we wait until archaeological methodologies are more developed. Doing so now might not be in the best interest of long-term site preservation. Visitors to the exhibition walk away with a strong understanding of the past and current archaeological methodologies.
“Pompeii isn’t just an event that happened in 79 CE,” Withycombe says. “It’s a remarkable place bringing together some of the greatest archaeological minds in the world each year. They come together to work out the best ways to preserve, conserve and display the past.”
Image credit: Martin Ollman/ National Museum of Australia
Visit nma.gov.au to book tickets to Pompeii today.
This article is brought to you by National Museum Australia.
