OPENING OF THE
SOUTH- AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA AND HIMALAYA COLLECTION
November 19, 2008
Museum of Ethnology
In November 2008 a small part of the Ethnological Museum’s permanent collection will reopen to the public, namely the South- and South-East Asian Collection, and the Countries of the Himalayas Collection. From the collections’ rich holdings of over 30.000 objects those that best illustrate the area’s religious beliefs and practices have been selected. Recently-made objects are placed besides ancient ones to offer visitors insights into both the dynamics of cultural developments and the continuity of religious ideas. Although the objects on show may all be classed as „non-European religious art“, their display in the Ethnological Museum is not an attempt to aestheticise foreign objects by turning them into “non-European artifacts”; the focus is instead on trying to understand both what they represent, and cultural interrelations and interdependencies.
The selected objects span two millennia and offer insights into the interpretation and the social effectiveness of material expressions of intellectual models that offer explanations of the world; they also demonstrate the continuity of cultural expression in Asia up to the present time. For some years this background has also formed the basis for the Museum’s acquisition- and collection policy.
The objects displayed in each of the twenty-one show-cases focus on a particular aspect of religious behaviour and its localization in their makers’ world-view. Though each of the subjects can stand alone, the different narrative strands can also be bundled to obtain multiple viewpoints and a larger overall picture.
The exhibition’s narrative is organized along two axial lines: that of time and that of space. The time-axis shows that religious ideas continue to play an important role in modern-day Asia and still govern the actions of many people – Buddha, Shiva and Vishnu of the old texts are still very much alive, just as they were two millennia ago. The development along the spatial axis is much more dynamic and documents the spread of religious ideas and the evolution of religious syncretism. Here we tell the story of the interaction and interrelation of non-Western civilisations. These regions do not know - and have never known - a timeless past, although this is often suggested in Museums of Asian Art. Asia was always innovative and open to foreign civilisations. The exhibition hopes to make visitors understand that in order to survive and thrive cultural expressions are always - and must always be - part of a dynamic context. Asia’s cultural connectivity was so significant that we may call it an early form of globalization. Globalization is generally understood as a twentieth-century phenomenon associated with a world economy dominated by the West; but its historical roots lie in the East, especially in the countries bordering the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea a thousand years ago.
To position and explain an object we employ, wherever possible, categories derived from the culture in which it originated. The objects’ selection, interpretation and context are the result of discussions with representatives of the cultures being presented. Explanatory texts were discussed with both Buddhist monks and European scholars and experts.
Countries of the Himalayas
Aspects of the Buddhism practiced in the countries of the Himalayas - Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and Mongolia – are presented together in one of the showrooms. Each of the show-cases focuses on a particular subject, each of which forms an integral part of the overall concept. Besides the historical figure of the Buddha, they deal with the numerous manifestations of the Divine according to the evolution of Buddhist philosophy. We also focus on syncretism fed by pre-Buddhist and Buddhist ideas. The philosophy of the Himalayas is expressed in depictions of deities as well as in the monks’ ritual dances.
Southern Asia
Here we present Buddhism and Hinduism and the philosophy on which they are based. We focus on their historical roots, on the different aspects and developments that have resulted in contemporary cultural practices, and on various other aspects such as the story of the Buddha’s life, the incorporation of both Buddhist and Hindu deities in the rival religion, and on the question whether depictions of gods can be understood as works of art. In addition to these two major religions that dominate Asia, we also focus on the Naga in northern India as an example of an ethnic group who live on the fringes of the Indian nation-state. Of particular interest is the evolution of their culture, which in less than half a century has changed from a head-hunting civilisation to one summed up by the slogan “Nagaland for Christ”.
South-East Asia
The depiction of Buddhist and Taoist subjects documents the local reception of cultural influences that emanate from larger national centers. Buddhism was imported from India, Taoism from China, but ritual practices in rural northern Vietnam changed both into unique local versions. The complete altar of a Thai healer illustrates this syncretistic amalgamation of Buddhist and Hindi ideas with those derived from animist popular beliefs. A special section focuses on Vietnam as an example of how religion can help to forge a national identity. Bronze gongs that two thousand years ago served as the religious legitimization of royal power helped construct a national identity, as did Ho Chi Minh who mutated from Communist leader to a religiously venerated figure.
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Selection of Exhibits