Bellarmine Hall Galleries at Fairfield University Art Museum will host an exhibition from September 18 to December 12, 2026, exploring 'Egyptomania'—the 19th-century European fascination with ancient Egyptian art and culture. The show features paintings, prints, photographs, and decorative art from the early 19th century to the present, including works like Charles-Théodore Frère's *Along the Nile* (ca. 1870). Curated by Megan Paqua, the exhibition examines how Egyptian symbols and motifs were adopted, exoticized, and commercialized, often erasing the ancient Egyptian people themselves. It aims to contrast simplified or stereotypical narratives with current archaeological understanding.
The exhibition matters because it critically reexamines a persistent cultural phenomenon—Egyptomania—that has shaped Western art and popular imagination for over two centuries. By highlighting the tension between admiration and misrepresentation, the show addresses broader issues of cultural appropriation, colonial legacy, and the ethics of visual representation. It also positions historical artworks in dialogue with contemporary Afrofuturist perspectives, offering a nuanced, scholarly corrective to romanticized views of ancient Egypt.