NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
Mangiare e bere a Pompei
From February 9, 2004 to November 6, 2005

The exhibition Mangiare e bere a Pompei has been promoted by Soprintendenza per i Beni archeologici of the Naples and Caserta provinces and is a fascinating journey in history. Approximately 200 pieces show the link between food habits and the Vesuvio territory through a path that develops in three rooms of the museum first floorbeside la Sala degli Argenti. We can see egg-shells, pomegranates remnants, walnuts, pine-seeds, cones, figs, cereals like barley and spelt found during archaeological surveys and that offer the possibility to see what was eaten in the past and which show how food has changed .A sculpture of "Dio Bacco" and the famous painting "Bacco e il Vesuvio", found during the excavation of Casa del Centenario, act as a guide to the whole exhibition, that even has the typical Roman dining room built by the restorers of Soprintedenza archeologica of Naples with on display kitchenware and dishes together with the characteristic cutlery such as bronze and silver spoons.

Opening hours: 9.00-20.00; closed on Tuesday; closed on Sunday and public holidays : 1 January, 1, May 1, December 25.
Entrance : museum ticket
Information: Ph: 00390815441494, Fax: 0039081440013
Web Site: http://www.archeona.arti.beniculturali.it

Running Exhibition from 31st October 2004 to 31st January 2005
"THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY"

A personal exhibition devoted to Damien Hirst, called the "Agony and the Ecstasy" has been opened at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples. The exhibition, which can be visited up to 31 January 2005, is part of a project called "Annali delle Arti", promoted the Campania Region, thought of and organized by Achille Bonito Oliva, and curated by Eduardo Cicelyn, Mario Codognato and Mirta d'Argenzio. Hirst was born in Bristol 1965 and his artistic career has simultaneously represented both the ecstasy and agony, eros and thanatos, corpses and medicines. This juxtaposition has been present since his first success in London, when in the eighties the well known advertising agent Charles Saatchi contributes to give fame to a group of artists called Young British Artists. Hirst is among them one of the most important, especially if we think of his contribution to Sensation, the collective exhibition which took place in 1996. The exhibition stirred up a scandal and was severely criticised by the authorities, by the citizens and by the conformists shocked by the works on display. Hirst very often exhibits animals carcasses preserved in formaldehyde, works that reproduce chemical and physical formulae or chemist set of shelves (like in the last Biennale Venice), monochromes of dead flies and coloured mandalas made with butterflies wings which can be considered metaphors of the human frailty.

Opening hours: Daily from 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.; closed on Tuesday.
Information: Information: Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Piazza Museo 19, Napoli. archeona@arti.beniculturali.it
Web Site: http://www.archeona.arti.beniculturali.it
Phone: 0039081440166, Fax: 0039081440013