The Sanctuary

​As a teenager I remember going on a school trip to see the Treasures of Tutankhamun at the British Museum and was captivated by the iconic golden death mask on display. The sight of so many gilded artefacts, revealing the short life of the Pharaoh, made the pre-dawn coach trip to London and long queue worthwhile.
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The Sanctuary pays homage to that formative experience, albeit in an ironic fashion. For years women were identified by their domestic status as somebody’s wife or someone’s mother rather than in their own right. The gilded objects and golden costume are a humorous and perhaps unsettling way of evaluating these invisible roles that women still play and of re-evaluating identity. 

The Sanctuary, 2018

The Sanctuary from Kim Thornton on Vimeo.