Dorothy Cross: Bringing an ancient mummy from Cork to Cairo 

The UCC mummy has had a peripheral presence in the Irish artist's life for many years, and the stars have now aligned for a project to return it to Egypt 

Dorothy Cross is currently working on her Kinship project, which will involved the return to Egypt of a mummy held at UCC.

Dorothy Cross is not known for her squeamishness, having worked with materials as unusual as cowhides, bones and a human heart to produce some of the most memorable artworks of our times. So it was not entirely surprising when it was announced in December that her next major project, Kinship, will centre on a mummified body in the Heritage Collection of University College Cork, which she intends returning to the Museum of Egyptology in Cairo in April.

Cross has been working on Kinship for the past three years, in collaboration with UCC and the arts producer Mary Hickson. The mummy, believed to be that of a middle-aged adult male - possibly a priest from Thebes - was donated to the university by the African Missions in 1928, and Cross learned of its existence through family lore.