Catholic administration of the canton of St Gallen, the body that owns all the Abbey Library holdings, has responded to Rau’s criticism and decided to re-examine the issue, it appears. Three weeks after Rau’s stunt on the streets of St Gallen, the administration’s management board said that it would “look seriously” into the What Shep-en-Isis probably looked like – Italian forensic experts used computer tomography data to put together this forensic facial reconstruction of the mummy in early 2022. Photo: IMAGO Theatre director Milo Rau wheeled a mockup of Shep-en-Isis through St Gallen, calling for the mummy to be returned to her homeland. Photo: Keystone regard to Shep-en-Isis, and that they observe standard practice on the display of human remains at museums. Photos that they have provided to the media have even been taken from a distance, showing the mummy’s face from a side-on angle. Are these explanations sufficient to keep Shep-en-Isis in St Gallen? The ders by a group of invited scholars, according to accounts at the time. Following a ceremony, the guests were each allowed to take a piece of the mummy’s bandages home with them. Was this the lack of respect to which Rau is referring? The German ethnologist Wiebke Ahrndt recently said that the social elites in the 19th century often held mummy “unwrapping parties”, whereby mummies would be unwrapped for entertainment at private parties – not only in Europe, but in Egypt itself. This past could no longer be undone. Ahrndt, who has written a set of guidelines on caring for human remains in museums and collections, believes that mummies can be exhibited, provided human dignity and the sensitivities of the country of origin are respected. Not only do Egyptian museums also exhibit mummies, but it was even legal to export mummies until 1983, says Ahrndt. The people who run the Abbey Library are keen to stress that there is no voyeurism involved with Swiss Review / March 2023 / No.2
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