The Sackler's 36-piece exhibition includes bronzes of Shiva's elephant-headed son Ganesha and a crowned Buddha, above, from the 12th century. (Images From National Museum Of Cambodia, Phnom Penh)
(National Museum Of Cambodia, Phnom Penh - National Museum Of Cambodia, Phnom Penh)
By Michael O'Sullivan
Friday, May 28, 2010
GODS OF ANGKOR: BRONZES FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CAMBODIA Through Jan. 23 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Ave. SW (Metro: Smithsonian). 202-633-1000 (TDD: 202-633-5285). http:// . Hours: Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission: Free.www.asia.si.edu
There are only 36 works on display in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's latest exhibition, "Gods of Angkor: Bronzes From the National Museum of Cambodia." Maybe twice that, if you count all the extra arms and heads.
A trove of Cambodian treasures
The story behind the work: Cambodia's Khmer culture is displayed in 'Gods of Angkor' exhibit
Gods, you see, are not like us.
The show -- a jewel box of mostly smallish sculptures in three tiny galleries -- centers on devotional figures of Shiva, Vishnu and other Hindu deities, several of whom are depicted with anywhere from four to 10 arms, and as many as five heads. One, in the case of Shiva's son Ganesha, has the head of an elephant.
There are also several statues of the Buddha.
I know: Buddha is not technically a god. Still, he has often been revered as though he were one. And his various bodhisattvas -- the quasi-human, quasi-godlike embodiments of such virtues as wisdom and compassion -- are themselves considered to be deities. (In an interesting twist on certain Western stereotypes, wisdom, represented by the bodhisattva Prajnaparamita, is female; compassion, in the person of Avalokiteshvara, is a male.)
So Buddha makes the cut. The show, which also features two or three human figures, includes a number of rarely seen ritual objects from Buddhist and Hindu worship: a bell, a mirror, a lotus flower, a conch.
Yet despite its name, "Gods" isn't exactly a show about religion. Nor is it simply a celebration of the bronze-caster's art. Though it covers centuries' worth of art from the Khmer people -- from late prehistory through the Angkor period (802 to 1431 A.D.) -- there's precious little technical information about how the pieces were made.
Instead, the show is a tip of the hat from one museum to another. One favor in exchange for another.
In 2005, experts from the Sackler helped set up the National Museum of Cambodia's first metal conservation lab, with financial support from the Getty Foundation. Today, in conjunction with its ceramics and stone conservation shops, the Cambodian museum operates one of Southeast Asia's preeminent art conservation facilities.
The beautiful works in "Gods of Angkor" are evidence of that.
In other words, the National Museum of Cambodia got the gift, but here in Washington, we are the beneficiaries.
A trove of Cambodian treasures
The story behind the work: Cambodia's Khmer culture is displayed in 'Gods of Angkor' exhibit
Gods, you see, are not like us.
The show -- a jewel box of mostly smallish sculptures in three tiny galleries -- centers on devotional figures of Shiva, Vishnu and other Hindu deities, several of whom are depicted with anywhere from four to 10 arms, and as many as five heads. One, in the case of Shiva's son Ganesha, has the head of an elephant.
There are also several statues of the Buddha.
I know: Buddha is not technically a god. Still, he has often been revered as though he were one. And his various bodhisattvas -- the quasi-human, quasi-godlike embodiments of such virtues as wisdom and compassion -- are themselves considered to be deities. (In an interesting twist on certain Western stereotypes, wisdom, represented by the bodhisattva Prajnaparamita, is female; compassion, in the person of Avalokiteshvara, is a male.)
So Buddha makes the cut. The show, which also features two or three human figures, includes a number of rarely seen ritual objects from Buddhist and Hindu worship: a bell, a mirror, a lotus flower, a conch.
Yet despite its name, "Gods" isn't exactly a show about religion. Nor is it simply a celebration of the bronze-caster's art. Though it covers centuries' worth of art from the Khmer people -- from late prehistory through the Angkor period (802 to 1431 A.D.) -- there's precious little technical information about how the pieces were made.
Instead, the show is a tip of the hat from one museum to another. One favor in exchange for another.
In 2005, experts from the Sackler helped set up the National Museum of Cambodia's first metal conservation lab, with financial support from the Getty Foundation. Today, in conjunction with its ceramics and stone conservation shops, the Cambodian museum operates one of Southeast Asia's preeminent art conservation facilities.
The beautiful works in "Gods of Angkor" are evidence of that.
In other words, the National Museum of Cambodia got the gift, but here in Washington, we are the beneficiaries.
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