|
|
 The
Museum of Asian Art of Corfu, after pioneering an exhibition of
sculptures from the Graeco-Buddhist Art of Gandhara, presented the
current collection of sculptures and paintings from the Indian
Subcontinent and the Himalayas under the title "The Gods of the
Himalayas ".
The
aim of this exhibition is to introduce to the visitors of the Museum
the life of the inhabitants of the Himalayas as expressed through
their art. The people of the Himalayas and their art are intensely
influenced from two major religions, Tantric Shaivism of North India
and Tibetan Buddhism. Historically, these religions influenced each
other and today they coexist harmoniously in Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim,
Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and other regions of the South Himalayas.
There are examples of large Tibetan statues of the Buddha, as well as
of smaller bronze statues of various deities, frescoes, religious
paintings on satin and silk (tankas), jewels and utensils decorated
with semi-precious stones, the impressive architecture of monasteries
and their temples. For the people of the Himalayas, the statues, the
murals and the precious stones that embellish their temples are not
only considered representations of the deities, but also the physical
bodies in which resign the deities.
 As
the archaeologist director of the Museum, Mrs. Aglaia Papoutsani –Karamanou
explained, the Museum has a permanent collection. Unlike other Greek
museums, its collection is not increased by new purchases, as it has
no financial means. The Museum was founded in 1927 with an endowment
of the diplomat Gregorios Manos to the Greek state of 10.000 objects
of Asiatic origin (mainly from China and Japan). Manos spent his
entire fortune in auctions in France for the creation of this unique
collection and died penniless one year after the museum’s opening. The
Indian collection of the Museum was strengthened considerably in 1974
with the donation of another diplomat,
Nicolaos
Chadjivassileiou
who
served in India, Korea and Japan from 1954 to 1962. His gift of 450
objects included certain well-maintained statues from the Graeco-Buddhist
art of Gandhara that were exhibited at the Museum in 2002-3. Some
unique pieces were sent to the National Gallery of Athens for the
special exhibition "Imperial Treasures from China" that took place
during the Cultural Olympiad in Athens 2004.
The
Museum of Asian Art is unique in Greece and is housed in the Palace of
SS Michael and George, one of the finest examples of European
Neoclassicism, in the northern part of the Spianada, the enormous
public square in Corfu town. Its artefacts from India, China, Nepal,
Tibet, Japan, Cambodia, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan date from the
11th century A.D. The Museum maintains a rich library and,
in collaboration with the Ionian University that has its headquarters
in Corfu, has the ambition to establish a national centre for research
of Oriental cultures and the humanities.
|
|
