WINNIPEG — Olympus is rising downtown but bringing its Greek gods to the Winnipeg Art Gallery is more methodical than mythical. The WAG’s new exhibit Olympus: The Greco-Roman Collections of Berlin opens April 26.
“When we put an exhibition of this magnitude together, it starts several years in advance,” said Seema Hollenberg, the head of curatorial for the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
More than 160 Greek and Roman antiquities were carefully transported into Winnipeg last month. A crew from Germany is strategically unpacking it all.
WATCH: Winnipeg Art Gallery workers unload priceless artifacts
“I fly with the pilot in the cockpit, so for the whole night I am awake,” said Astrid Will, who has the stressful job of ensuring the art makes it safely to the gallery. “I have to supervise all the things that happen with the crates.”
Because of security concerns, Global News is not allowed to share any of the shipping information and couldn’t record the vehicles as the crates were unloaded into the building.
The pieces came to Winnipeg from Quebec City, where they were last on display. The collection is on loan from the National Museums in Berlin.
“The worst case is on the airplane with the starting and the landing, that is the most difficult time for the objects, or when you have it in the truck and it is all bump bump bump on the highway,” said Will, who is from Germany.
The WAG’s construction crews have been busy transforming the exhibition hall from the previous Dali collection to Olympus.
Walls have been taken down, new ones put up and a rotunda reminiscent of Greco-Roman times was built.
“Each of the sections has a different colour and different mood to it,” said Hollenberg.
The pedestals are all custom built and weighted with sandbags to make sure the pieces don’t topple .
“When an object is ready to be installed, we make sure everything is in place before we even open a crate, and we make sure we have all the hardware ready, all the tools ready and all the people ready,” said Hollenberg.
The WAG will not say how much the collection is worth; however, it is insured through the government of Canada.
General admission to the art gallery, including the Olympus exhibit, costs $22.
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