The blockbuster exhibition that was on par with Taylor Swift’s Eras tour

Egypt mania has delivered record attendances for the Australian Museum, with its latest blockbuster exhibition injecting more than $57 million into the NSW economy – on par with the boost delivered by Taylor Swift’s Sydney concerts earlier this year.

Helped by Egyptian treasure show Ramses & The Gold of the Pharaohs, the museum clocked 1.5 million visitors in the 2023-24 financial year – its best numbers in its 198-year history. And the runaway success of Ramses has emboldened the museum to bring a second ancient world blockbuster, set to be publicly unveiled later this month.

Ramses & The Gold of the Pharaohs drew more than half a million visitors to the Australian Museum.Credit: Tim Levy

“It opens at the end of November for six months and while we don’t expect it will do the same numbers because there is nothing that has the same pulling power as ancient Egypt, we expect audience attendance to be significant,” the museum’s chief executive Kim McKay teased.

An economic report commissioned by the museum has found Ramses brought in 508,000 visitors – more than double the 215,000 people who came to see Jurassic Park by Brickman and the 170,000 people who visited Sharks.

The exhibition featured a collection of more than 180 rare artefacts and the largest collection of King Ramses II items to ever leave Egypt.

The assessment comes as the Minns government confirmed that a $40 million fund to promote and market blockbusters such as Ramses and this year’s spectacularly successful Biennale of Sydney at White Bay Power Station will not be extended.

The Australian Museum’s ancient Egypt show injected more than $57 million into the NSW economy.Credit: Tim Levy

Museums and galleries are waiting to see if the funding will be reinstated under a new visitor economy strategy. Labor has directed Destination NSW to promote arts and culture experiences as part of its tourism funding campaigns.

The Australian Museum study by Inform Economics concluded the Ramses show contributed $57.24 million to the local economy in visitor spending, job creation, economic output and tax revenue. By comparison, Swift’s Eras Tour drew 600,000 Australian fans. Her four Sydney concerts were said to have boosted the local economy by between $10 million and $133 million.

“If something is appealing to a broad audience, whether it is Taylor Swift or Ramses or indeed a sporting event, Sydneysiders will turn out in droves,” McKay said.

Blockbuster exhibitions are often several years in the making and galleries and museums are increasingly reliant on them to bring visitors through their doors each year, especially in a cost-of-living crisis.

Taylor Swift on her blockbuster Eras tour.Credit: Wolter Peeters

In 2021, then-NSW premier Dominic Perrottet introduced a four-year $40 million fund to help cultural institutions market and promote shows across the state. To date, the blockbuster fund has supported seven shows at the Art Gallery of NSW, four at the Australian Museum, three at the Powerhouse Museum, two Biennales of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Exhibitions funded by the program include those by masters Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, William Kentridge as well as fashion icon Carla Zampatti and Gucci Garden Archetypes.

The Australian Museum received $1.2 million to promote Ramses.

NSW Arts Minister John Graham said the blockbuster fund was an important initiative during COVID. “While there are a number of forthcoming projects not yet announced under this program, the four-year funding has now ended,” he said.

“On 9th February 2024 I issued a directive to Destination NSW to support more arts and cultural experiences, this includes large-scale exhibitions.

“Where appropriate, future financial support can be made available through both Create NSW and Destination NSW.”

McKay said there had not been a massive drop-off in audiences since Ramses closed, with the show reintroducing cultured adults and families to the newly renovated museum, and “they liked what they saw”.

A homegrown show is now in the pipeline to celebrate the museum’s 200th anniversary year in 2027, partly using profits from Ramses.

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