China's iconic terracotta warriors set up camp at WA museum

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A set of China’s iconic terracotta warriors are being displayed at a world-exclusive exhibition opening this weekend in Perth. It's the largest collection the Western Australia museum has ever hosted.

Transcript

00:00This will be the largest curation the Bula Bada Museum of WA has ever hosted and at the

00:09heart of this exhibition are these ancient terracotta warriors. Here to tell me all about

00:15them is curator Tonya Eckfeld. Tonya, tell me what is so special about these pieces?

00:22These are really icons of Chinese culture, Lauren. They really tell an important story

00:27about the formation of China and China as an entity is a big empire 2,200 years ago and

00:34the formation of its institutions, its systems and really becoming one big country that continued

00:43for the next two millennia.

00:44How were they discovered?

00:47Well, they were discovered 51 years ago in 1974 by a farmer and his brothers digging

00:55a well in Shaanxi province.

00:58And it was accidental?

01:00It was accidental. They found a head, a terracotta head and really at that time no one knew exactly

01:06what it was, although people thought that the first emperor's tomb was nearby.

01:11Right, and this isn't the end though, they're still discovering them, is that right?

01:16That was the beginning of the story and from there really archaeologists had to get to work

01:22and they found three vast pits full of these amazing terracotta warriors, about 8,000 in

01:29all, a few hundred horses as well and every warrior was individual.

01:34Now, they've travelled very far to be here.

01:38They have travelled very far to be here.

01:40Yeah, how many are here today and why is that number so significant?

01:45We've got eight terracotta warriors, varying roles and ranks up to a very important and

01:53beautiful general. And one horse that's completely impressive, one of the cavalry horses with

01:59its saddle. And that's a large number to travel in any exhibition. So this is one of the biggest

02:06ones. And in fact, in terms of overall size and quantity, it's the biggest exhibition of

02:12this type ever to travel outside of China.

02:16Tonya, this is one of the final pieces in the exhibition. It's a stunning visual experience.

02:24There's golden birds, jade pine trees, mercury waters. Tell us the story behind this.

02:31We based this experience on ancient records of what's inside Qin Shi Huang's, the first emperor's

02:38burial chamber. It hasn't been opened yet, but we're very convinced of what's inside

02:43there. So we wanted to give people an interactive experience of what it might feel like inside

02:49that amazing space. In the exhibition, these objects were for the emperors and for the empresses

02:55and for their enjoyment for all time. So how lucky are we that we get to enjoy them today?

03:01The exhibition will open this weekend and will run for eight months, expected to draw in huge

03:09crowds of around 180,000 people from across Australia and the world.

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