The Vikings arrive at the British Museum

A few weeks ago I went to see the Vikings exhibition at the British Museum. I was so excited. I love the British Museum, and I'm a member of it (really worth it, not only can you visit every exhibition without booking, but they have the most amazing members room, with great tea!) I was always disappointed with the exhibition space. It was too busy, and I always struggled to see the artefacts, it was a case of deep breathes and keeping calm. So much so that whilst viewing the Pompeii exhibition for the second time I felt very faint and had to leave quickly. It was also very sad that visitors could no longer see the reading room in it's full glory- I'm hoping that it'll be reinstated soon?

So with some excitement and in-trepidation I entered the new exhibition centre. I was so overjoyed I even treated myself to an audio guide.

I stepped in and started to move around the first room. I was confused, I couldn't actually see any artefacts, or information about the Vikings. Then it dawned on me, there was a queue meandering round the interesting bits of the room. Slowly. I had to precede back to the entrance and join the slow shuffle round. I was so glad for the audio guide, it meant I had something to concentrate on when I wasn't near any of the cases. Although at first I felt a bit suffocated the queue worked to the exhibitions advantage - when I was in view of something, I spent far longer examining it and reading the signs than I probably would have done. Some of the exhibits were placed so only one person could view at a time, and I think it was difficult for some children to see - I let some stand in front of me at one point so that they weren't pushed out of the way by overexcitable adults!

The main issue I had with the exhibition was that the text accompanying the exhibits had been placed really low, so it was difficult to read. I think this is an issue that the Tate cope with really well - you're given a little booklet of the text at the beginning, which is the same as what is written on the walls. Then if it's busy and you can't get near, you can read the booklet.

After the first room though the crowd dispersed (I'm still not sure how this happened) and suddenly there was air and space around everyone and everything. I loved the objects, and the exhibition, there's so much to the Vikings that is forgotten. The art is beautiful, and too often it is presumed that they were just barbarian warriors. These people had culture and style. Even though I'd studied the Vikings at university, I was still surprised by the quality and beauty. The exhibition was great at looking at both sides of the Vikings, raiders v traders, with evidence of violence and slavery displayed near evidence of trading across Europe and East through Russia.

Entering the final room is amazing, with the vast Viking ship in the centre of the room. It takes your breathe away. There is so much space to look around and to take your time. It is the perfect exhibition to open the new space with, and I'm hoping I'll have time to visit again before it closes on 22nd June.