Cambodia’s Bronze Mettle
Wall Street Journal, 15 July 2010

The very name “Angkor” conjures images of towering stone spires, rocks morphing into giant undulating snakes, carved faces bulging from temple walls. But these palaces and temples housed bronzes—idols, ritual objects and decorative statues that took their place within the endless unfolding of stone reliefs and statuary.

In “Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia,” the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art presents 24 such bronzes along with a dozen others that precede the Angkor period (ninth to mid-15th century). Together they establish that the Khmer people of Cambodia have a rich bronze-casting tradition that produced magnificent works.

Museum gives insight into Bronze Age culture
Viet Nam News, 10 July 2010

More than 600 ancient artefacts from Viet Nam and some other Asian countries are on display at an exhibition at the Can Tho Museum.

The relics, some 2,000 years old, are from collections held by museums and 60 individuals in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region.

Some are on public display for the first time, including some Lao and Cambodian decorative objects and prayer objects in bronze, silver, stone, and baked clay.

Ancient artefacts on show to herald Hue festival
VOVNews, 04 June 2010

An exhibition of over 300 artefacts dating back six centuries opened at the Revolutionary History Museum in Thua Thien-Hue province on June 3 on the threshold of the 2010 Hue Festival.

The exhibits have been selected from over one million items fishermen had picked up from wreckages of merchant ships coming from China, Thailand and various parts of Vietnam that sunk off the nation’s shores during the 15th -18th centuries.

The artefacts were made of various materials ranging from ceramics to stone, wood and metals with China household utensils making up a majority.

Ganesha. Cambodia, Angkor period, 13th century. Bronze. National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Ga5987

Saving culture for the future
Phnom Penh Post, 04 May 2010

The exhibition, titled “Gods of Angkor”, will showcase more than Cambodia’s art; it is also a stage for the country’s new generation of museum conservators, who have been tasked with preserving some of Cambodia’s key archaeological heritage pieces.

Though a generation of conservators was lost during the Khmer Rouge period, the last decade has seen a new crop emerge to take its place in the National Museum’s Metal Conservation Laboratory.

“The exhibition is going to introduce the laboratory to the world,” said Cort, the curator for ceramics at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution and the upcoming exhibition’s co-curator.

The laboratory was launched in 2005 as part of a training partnership with the Freer and Sackler Galleries. The Smithsonian exhibition marks the first time works that have been conserved completely independently by the laboratory will be shown internationally.

Grave concerns
The Star, 17 April 2010

Currently, the museum is hosting 30 coffins sourced from the different cultures and tribes within the country and around the region — big ones, tiny ones, plain ones, elaborate eye-popping ones, conventional ones and even those that look like works of art.

“It was an idea that came up during a brainstorming session,” said National Museum director-general Datuk Ibrahim Ismail, 55.

“We thought it would be interesting to expose the public to the customs and traditions of other cultures. For instance, some people don’t understand why it is necessary for music to be played at certain funeral processions. They close their eyes when a coffin goes by. We hope to change these perceptions,” he explained.

Throw in some eerie mood music and life-sized props, and you’ve got the recipe for a great (and hopefully educational) Malaysian day out. For the past week or so, visitors young and old, have gasped and shuddered at the sight of these funereal artefacts. However, the museum’s pièce de résistance had yet to arrive.

Ancient Cambodian bronzes headed to Getty Center
Los Angeles Times, 30 March 2010

For the first time, the J. Paul Getty Museum will be hosting an exhibition of artwork from Cambodia.

A collection of ancient bronze sculptures from the Southeast Asian country will go on display at the Getty Center in 2011. “Gods of Angkor: Bronzes From the National Museum of Cambodia” is set to run from Feb. 22 to Aug. 14, 2011.

The exhibition features work dating from the Angkor period, roughly from the 9th to the 15th centuries. The Getty said the show will also feature a small group of bronzes from the pre-Angkor period and some recently excavated works.For the first time, the J. Paul Getty Museum will be hosting an exhibition of artwork from Cambodia.

A collection of ancient bronze sculptures from the Southeast Asian country will go on display at the Getty Center in 2011. “Gods of Angkor: Bronzes From the National Museum of Cambodia” is set to run from Feb. 22 to Aug. 14, 2011.

The exhibition features work dating from the Angkor period, roughly from the 9th to the 15th centuries. The Getty said the show will also feature a small group of bronzes from the pre-Angkor period and some recently excavated works.

3,000-year-old coffin on show
The Star, 30 March 2010

Coffin exhibition opens at National Museum
New Straits Times, 01 April 2010

A 3,000-year-old coffin and another worth about half-a-million ringgit will be on display at the National Museum.

They are among the 30-odd coffins that are part of an exhibition, themed Traditions and Mysteries.

…

The attractions include a “Niah boat” coffin that dates back to Neolithic times, a gold-plated modern Chinese coffin, a buffalo-shaped coffin from Indonesia and a 100-year-old kerusi mayat (coffin chair) from the Philipines that was used to dry the bodies of respected noblemen until only the bones remained.

Ceramics from sunken ships on display at National Museum
New Straits Times, 27 February 2010

Ceramics found in a Sung Dynasty ship, which sunk off Tanjung Simpang Mengayau in the northern tip of Sabah, will be among artefacts to be displayed at the 1Malaysia Ceramic Exhibition at the National Museum here.

The ship, from the Sung Dynasty that ruled China between 960 and 1279, was among the earliest ship to have sunken in the country’s waters.

Museum Director-General Datuk Ibrahim Ismail said other ceramics to be displayed were from the ship Diana which sunk in 1817 during the Qing Dynasty and another ship which sunk in Desaru in 1830 also during the Qing Dynasty.

Dong Son style swords on display at the Thanh Hoa provincial museum

Journey through history with antique swords
Viet Nam News, 26 February 2010

An exhibition of 99 ancient swords recently opened in Ha Noi, offering visitors a chance to learn more about history’s most popular weapon.

The swords were selected from the private 300-sword collection owned by collector Duong Phu Hien.

Four generations of Hien’s family have maintained and added to the collection. “By collecting and preserving ancient Vietnamese artefacts, especially those relating to the defence of our nation, every member of my family has demonstrated their love for the country and its magnanimous history,” Hien said.

The exhibition features a large array of swords, including 37 that were made in Viet Nam. The others came from different countries, including China, Japan, and the UK.

I must confess that I did not know anything about the Mughals before this exhibition; the short version is that the Mughal
Empire ruled most of India between the 16th and 19th centuries, and oversaw a period of great wealth and prosperity. Case in point: the Taj Mahal, one of the most iconic symbols of India is an example of Mughal architecture; and the word ‘mogul’ which means a person of great power also has its roots from the word Mughal. And powerful rulers they had to be, because they were Islamic rulers overseeing an vastly Hindu population. So their jewelled arts were as much a symbol of power as they were of beauty.

The exhibition is laid out in different sections, each highlighting a particular technique, such as stone settings, enamelled pieces, and inscribed gemstones. The last one is a particular highlight, featuring gemstones such as emeralds and spinels inscribed with royal names.

Inscribed gemstones from the Treasury of the World

This dagger is an example of gemstones laid in a background of gold floral ground – set with rubies, diamonds, emeralds, ivory and agate.

Mughal jewelled dagger and scabbard, c. 1615-1620.

The name of the exhibition comes from a letter by the British Ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe, who wrote in 1616 about the Mughal Court. It’s certainly worth a visit if you’re in Singapore – just another reason to visit the Asian Civilisations Museum.

Special thanks to Binjing @ ACM for the permission to take photographs at the exhibition. The Treasury of the World exhibition is on from now until 27 June 2010 at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. For more information, click here.