While creating the Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor was an incredible experience for one of its designers, it’s also proving a huge hit with visitors to the WA Museum Boola Bardip.
By Ara Jansen
For Dan Schoknecht it was a trip of a lifetime. Travelling to China to help pick the artefacts which would make up an international-first exhibition.
More than a year later, the Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor is open at the WA Museum Boola Bardip and running into summer.
“We had nothing – the exhibition started as an idea and a partnership with the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre,” said Dan, the senior exhibition coordinator.
The museum team went to China in November 2023 where they negotiated to bring more than 225 Chinese artefacts to Perth for an exhibition they created and designed in partnership with the centre and Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum.
With some of the items never before seen in Australia and nearly half having never left China, the exhibition consists of 10 terracotta figures including, eight warriors, a seated attendant and a horse. It’s the largest number of warriors allowed out of China at one time loaned to one institution.
The objects and artefacts range from kitchenware to rare gold ornaments and adornments, a bronze swan, jade pieces and jewellery, and even some terracotta pigs and piglets excavated from a tomb. These are Dan’s personal favourites. For visitors, there a model piglet to touch.
“We wanted variety in the objects but we also wanted them to tell a story,” says Dan. “We created a narrative around the objects which would take people on a journey. We made sure it was a unique assemblage of objects, displayed in a unique way. It’s a particularly large assembly, larger than would normally be put together.”
Known the world over, the chance discovery of the Terracotta Warriors near Xi’an in 1974 remains one of the most significant archaeological finds of all time.
Buried for more than 2000 years, the life-sized warriors were created to guard China’s First Emperor, Qin Shihuang, in the afterlife and became a legendary army frozen in time. The exhibition focuses on the extraordinary world of Emperor Qin Shihuang, exploring his life, legacy and afterlife.
Terracotta Warriors invites visitors to step into the Qin dynasty through never-before-seen immersive digital experiences and cutting-edge multimedia, bringing this ancient civilisation to life.
The exhibition explores the emperor’s vast tomb, rare artefacts and the ongoing archaeological discoveries that continue to reshape our understanding of early China.
“The warriors are the most well-known of these artifacts and they only let you have 10 at a time,” Dan adds.
“Visiting the sites was awe inspiring and we were privileged to meet people who have been working with some of these artefacts all their lives.”
A rich program of events supports the exhibition, including large-scale external projections, behind-the-scenes tours, talks, school visits and interactive experiences.
This includes a Friday mahjong club, activity zone, family Sundays, yum cha, screen printing, adventures in archaeology, music, quiet mornings and Chinese arts over tea.
The Terracotta Warriors runs to 22 February 2026. Tickets from WA Museum Boola Bardip and includes a season pass option to visit the exhibition as often as you like.
We have three double passes to the Terracotta Warriors: Legacy of the First Emperor exhibition to give to give away. See our competitions page for how to enter.
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