We are excited to announce a new temporary exhibition here at the museum. This display comes from Torquay Museum, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and material from Plan B Films, and tells the story of Devon born explorer Percy Fawcett and the recent film about his adventures The Lost City of Z.
Portrait of Percy Fawcett (Courtesy of Torquay Museum)
Percy Fawcett was born in Torquay and in later years lived in Stoke Canon just outside Exeter. He served in the army before being sent by the Royal Geographical Society to chart unmapped areas of Brazil and Bolivia in 1906. While there he discovered archaeological evidence of previously unknown advanced civilisations in the Amazon and returned repeatedly to the area to finds what he called ‘the lost city of Z’ before he disappeared, never to be seen again, in 1925. Recent research and excavations by teams from the University of Exeter’s Archaeology department, led by Professor Jose Iriarte, have recently proved many of Fawcett’s theories about the extent of these ancient settlements. http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/archaeology/news/title_648742_en.html .
The display combines original artefacts connected with Fawcett and his expeditions held at Torquay museum, including ceramics, a photo album and his diary, with props and publicity material for The Lost City of Z. The film was made in 2016 and was directed by James Gray. It stars Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland.
The display is a fascinating insight into this incredible story and how it was translated on to the screen and we are grateful to curators at Torquay Museum and HLF for the loan. It will be here until August.