MY STYLE Events manager Max Freer Inside the Egyptologist's ...

www.thenorthernecho.co.ukJanuary 20077MINIMALIST WITH MUMMIES:Dr Joann Fletcher in her calm whiteand cream sitting room“I have acoffin in my office,”says Joann, asif it was the most ordinary thing in the world.“She knows this is amummy,of adifferentsort.”Joann introducesme tothe reproduction,lifesizeancient Egyptian figure. It is beautiful,painted gold and red with hieroglyphs. “It isbogus, although the hieroglyphs and the faceare good. But it was the hair that did it for me,thatistotallyaccurate.”Coming from along line of Barnsley hairdressers,Joannisparticularlyinterested in ancientbeauty treatments. “Iamfascinated byadornment, like piercing and tattoos, their ritualsignificanceandhowpeople through historyused them to change how they looked,”shesays. “Men wore the loudest wigs and mostmake up, only women had tattoos It’s acompletereversalofwhatweareusedto.”Joann, who has hennaed hair,wears anosestud and loves kohl make-up, is no stranger toadornment herself. In fact, she confesses tobeing abit of aGoth. In her bedroom, she hasacollection of crucifixes,next toastunning setof glass eyeball rings,in all colours.“I love myeyeball rings. Iwant tomake aneyeballnecklace,if Icould find asourceofglasseyes, I’d have them set in silver.” She has evenflirted withthe ideaof havinganEgyptianeyetattoo. “Iaminto eyes and hands and the waypeople usethem tocommunicate.”In the hallway,she has arail of men’s coats,including one brightly coloured military jacketsheboughtbecauseitwasbeautifullymade.“I like funereal clothes, tail coats and dinnerjackets. Men’s coats arebettercut.”Her wardrobe isfull of exclusively blackclothes. “From the age of 15, Ihave worn onlyblack. Iloveit.Idon’tlikebrightcolourson myself.”She even ownsablackcat,Django,whichshe rescued as akitten from an animal centrein 1995.In the somewhat tweedy,male-dominatedworld of Egyptology, down-to-earth Joann,whose passion and enthusiasm for her subjectare infectious, is clearly abreath offresh air.Her common touch and sparkling talent forcommunication –aswell aswriting articlesandbooks,she hasappeared in anumberof hugelysuccessful television documentaries – havehelped open Egyptology upto amuch wideraudience.She has met some resistance. At UniversityCollege,London,she workedasachambermaidand shop assistanttopayherway.“Iwasanovelty.Iencountered my first dose ofsnobbery,not from staff, but certain individuals. Later,one senior academic told me I’d never get anywhereinthissubjectifIdidn’tlosemyaccent.But whyshould weconformto stereotypes?”Her aunt, Joan McMahon, took her toEgyptwhen she was15,adream-come-trueforthe girlobsessed withmummiesfrom anearlyage.Hermother,ahousewife, and father,asalesman,were keen amateur historians and their homewasfilled withbooks.Continued on page 8