Ulster Museum takes down the Game of Thrones Tapestry…for now

The Game of Thrones Tapestry is arguably the most ambitious and beautiful piece of Game of Thrones artwork in existence, a tall claim when you consider how industrious this fan base is. Commissioned by Tourism Ireland to draw potential tourists to the area, each panel of the tapestry depicts scenes from each of the 67 episodes yet aired, each done it the style of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century. All of the panels are gorgeous, if sometimes grisly. Some examples:

Since its creation, the Game of Thrones Tapestry has hung in the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a city that served as the nerve center of filming on Game of Thrones since the beginning. However, it’s now been taken down to make room for a new exhibit: Dippy, a plaster cast of the fossilized bones of a dinosaur.

Dinosaurs, I hope we can all agree, are cool, but we’re sad to see the Tapestry go…at least for now. As the Ulster Museum said above, it’s hoping to take the tapestry out of retirement and complete it with new panels once season 8 begins. We reached out to the museum for comment:

"The tapestry is temporarily coming off display for a well-earned rest and to make space for the arrival of Dippy from the Natural History Museum. It is hoped that the tapestry will return, and be completed, in April next year to coincide with the final series of Game of Thrones. There are no plans to tour the tapestry in the interim as we need to protect its condition in order to re hang in April."

I think the tapestry would be a big success on tour, but I understand that they don’t want to expose it to wear and tear before it’s even finished. Also, with all the chatter about when season 8 will air, it’s notable that the Ulster Museum is looking to bring the tapestry back “in April…to coincide with the final series of Game of Thrones,” although the Museum told us that it’s just an educated guess.

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