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Museu do OrienteFrom: Lisbon, Portugal
In English, the
name of Lisbon's Museu do Oriente means
Oriental Museum or
Museum of the Far East. Don't let the name deter you: This new museum,
which opened in 2008, isn't your grandfather's static gallery of Chinese vases and Japanese
paintings. Instead, it's a visually stunning and superbly presented view of Asian art and
culture from a Portuguese perspective, drawing on Portugal's history of
exploration, trade, Christian prosyletism, and cultural interaction in
Asia from the 15th Century through modern times.
The Museu do Oriente is operated by the Fundacão Oriente, which
was founded in Macau in 1988. The museum is organized around two permanent
exhibitions:
Portuguese
Presence in Asia begins with exhibits from Macau (a Chinese territory once
administered by Portugal), where you can view scale models, statues, Chinese
folding screens, and other displays which--among other things--show Portugal's
role in the "China Trade." As you move through the exhibits on the first floor,
you'll also see displays from Goa, China, Japan, East Timor, and other
Portuguese outposts or trading areas from the 1500-1900s.
Gods of Asia explores religion and mythology through
costumes, puppets, masks, statues, paintings, games, and other items from the
Kwok On collection of more than 13,000 objects. In addition, the Museu do Oriente has temporary exhibitions on
various topics, such as the Masks of Asia exhibit that took place during my
visit. (See photo at top of page.)
The Museu do Oriente occupies a former Port of Lisbon warehouse that dates back to 1939. The six-story concrete structure was built to store bacalhau, or dried cod; nearly 70 years later, architects João Luís Carrilho da Graça and Rui Francisco renovated the building, cleverly turning its interior columns into frames for display cases and adding such features as an auditorium, a restaurant, a cafeteria, and a shop. Planning your visit:For visitor information--including hours, prices, and how to reach the museum--see the Museu do Oriente Web site. More photos from the Museo do Oriente:
Portugal began trading with Japan soon after its explorers arrived in 1543. (See Wikipedia's Nanban trade article.) This gilded screen at the Museu do Oriente portrays a ship, Portuguese traders, and Japanese dignitaries. You can view a larger, 800-pixel-wide version of this image (79K) by clicking here.
In Japan and China, Christian symbols took on a local flavor during the Portuguese missionary era.
These wooden sculptures from Southern India are in the Museu do Oriente's permanent "Gods of Asia" exhibition.
The terrace outside the Museu do Oriente's top-floor restaurant has an eye-catching feature: a long section of building wall covered in gold leaf.
About the author: Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European cities and transportation. After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post. For more information, see About Europe for Visitors, press clippings, and reader testimonials. |
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