Last month, we took you to St. Paul Minnesota to show you the very impressive Mayan exhibit called Hidden World Revealed crafted by the Science Museum of Minnesota. It's news here because artifacts and research from Belize feature very prominently in the show. And now after 7 months on display in St Paul at the Science Museum of Minnesota, the exhibit is on the move to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. And going along with it are 160 pieces of precious Mayan artifacts from Belize. They have to travel about 900 miles by road to Denver, the end of a two week process of taking all the pieces down form their displays and packaging them with multiple layer of protection,. NICH"S Sherilyne Jones who oversees the entire process to make sure utmost care is taken. Today we spoke to her in Minnesota where she has braved subzero temperatures for weeks. First we spoke to conservator Rececca Newberry:
Rebecca Newberry, conservator - SMM
"We really put a lot of care into all of the travelling; all of the things that are going on the tour."
Sherilyne L. Jones, Director, Museum of Belize & Houses of Culture
"The detail planning that went into moving the objects and packing the objects was on par. I have never seen such detailed planning and preparation."
Rebecca Newberry, conservator - SMM
"We used special trucks to travel the exhibit. The artifacts on the exhibit goes onto a truck that has climate control system so it can maintained a steady temperature; it can be heated or cold to a specific temperature and then to pack it we did a really complicated and specific crate layout in the truck so that we know exactly how big the truck is, we know exactly how big the crates are and we planned out exactly where they are going to be and then each crate is carefully driven onto the truck on a pallet jack or a for wheel dolly and then each crate is strap to the side of the truck so it doesn't move."
"The truck is currently driving to Denver now with its two drivers and it will arrive at some point over night in Denver and then the keep the climate running all the time."
Sherilyne L. Jones, Director, Museum of Belize & Houses of Culture
"The level of packing that goes into packing an object for it to suffer any kind of major damage is highly unlikely, not at this stage. I was there to observe the entire process. There was nothing that they did that they didn't asked my approval for and so I feel very confident that everything is safe and they will arrive in Denver in one piece."
Sherilyne is now flying to Denver where she'll inspect the container tomorrow - to ensure that it is still sealed. It will be re-opened in two weeks' time for the setup of that show, at which time a NICH staffer will again go to ensure that the artifacts are intact and properly managed.
The show will be on display in Denver for six months where hundreds of thousands of visitors will get to see a very comprehensive view of Mayan antiquity. Here's what they can expect from the folks who developed the show in Minnesota:..
Paul Martin, Vice President, Exhibits
"This exhibition is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition ever done on the Mayan and the reason that its different from many other exhibitions that we've seen - our partnership with the National Institute of Culture and History was really key in making this whole exhibition successful because it really looks at research that's happening right now and the new knowledge that's being created on the ground in Belize in those really rich archeological sites."
Dr. Ed Fleming, Curator of Archaeology
"There have been many exhibits about the Maya done over the years but Belize is rarely mentioned very prominently. There's often many objects from Guatemala and from Mexico but Belize tend to be downplayed and it really shouldn't be, we saw this exhibit as an opportunity to really showcase the wonderful treasures and the archeology of Belize."
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