(Photo: Mekong.net)An art exhibition of Cambodian bronzes to open in Washington next month, featuring Khmer sculptures and ritual objects from late prehistory through the Angkorian period.
Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Thirty-six masterworks from the National Museum of Cambodia’s collection of some 7,000 bronzes will show at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery under “Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia.”
“This exhibition presents the stunning accomplishments of Khmer bronze casters,” Louise Allison Cort, the gallery’s curator of ceramics, said in a statement. “These bronzes are among the most exquisite expressions of Khmer ideals of religious imagery and ritual implements.”
The works include a rare and highly valued urn and bell, seven diverse bronze figures, ritual paraphernalia and Buddhist and Hindu sculpture.
The exhibition, a collaboration between the Freer and Sackler galleries and the National Museum of Cambodia, explores significant developments in bronze casting, as well as cultural and religious developments that coalesced during the Angkor period into a recognizable Khmer style.
The exhibition will show from May 15 through Jan. 23, 2011, in Washington and is scheduled to travel to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in February 2011.
Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Wednesday, 28 April 2010
“These bronzes are among the most exquisite expressions of Khmer ideals of religious imagery and ritual implements.”An art exhibition of Cambodian bronzes opens for the first time in Washington next month, featuring Khmer sculptures and ritual objects from late prehistory through the Angkorian period.
Thirty-six masterworks from the National Museum of Cambodia’s collection of some 7,000 bronzes will show at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery under “Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia.”
“This exhibition presents the stunning accomplishments of Khmer bronze casters,” Louise Allison Cort, the gallery’s curator of ceramics, said in a statement. “These bronzes are among the most exquisite expressions of Khmer ideals of religious imagery and ritual implements.”
The works include a rare and highly valued urn and bell, seven diverse bronze figures, ritual paraphernalia and Buddhist and Hindu sculpture.
The exhibition, a collaboration between the Freer and Sackler galleries and the National Museum of Cambodia, explores significant developments in bronze casting, as well as cultural and religious developments that coalesced during the Angkor period into a recognizable Khmer style.
The exhibition will show from May 15 through Jan. 23, 2011, in Washington and is scheduled to travel to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in February 2011.
7 comments:
Besides from temples and sculptures, what else have the angkorian khmers contributed to the WORLD HERITAGE?
thank you for appreciating khmer beauty. god bless.
khmer god-kings temples are full of mystery, riddles, subtle clues, etc... khmer arts, carvings, etc are there for a purpose; it's their way of expressing their beliefs,. i don't believe that an empire as big as ancient khmer were without contribution or admiration to the world as well as to highlight the khmer greatness and genius. perhaps it's all in the puzzle on purpose for everyone in the world to decipher. i read in the past some authors wrote that khmer left no philosophy for the world, no great contribution to the world like those of greek, the romans, etc; i don't necessary agree with that. i think there is certain contribution to the world that we all have to work hard to understand it. plus, one has to keep in mind too that ancient khmers used palm leaves, etc to record most of their pholosophies, beliefs, chronological orders, etc, and that we know this method of safekeeping is vulnerable to weather erosion, etc that permanent destroyed them. however, to say that a great empire like ancient cambodia or khmer did not leave any great marks for the world is not fair as i believe there are still more discovery to be made at angkor and cambodia and so forth. take for instant, the royal palace at angkor were made of woods because only concrete and stones were built for gods and other divine representatives. and we know that royal palace did not exist today at angkor, but that doesn't mean it did not exist then, etc... same with great contributions, etc... i theorized that they were probably lost in time, in war, in foreign conquest, in internal strife or royal intrigue, and destroyed by the weather, floodings, and so forth. i think there are still a lot of work and clues to be rediscovered in cambodia about angkor and the great khmer empire. we know that had a great system of gov't, great religions that were past down from india, great builders, great thinkers to put great temples into existence. even the temples were built with great design, great plan; so precise showing knowledge or clue of mathematics formula. also, the design of angkor alone with something to do with the alignment of the universe, the stars, the astronomy, etc... i mean the list goes on and on. of course, it's a mystery that required rediscovery, and so forth. i think it is fascinating to learn about the great khmer angkor civilization and khmer history that give birth to cambodia and thailand and even laos. probably the clue in in the present day countries of cambodia, thailand and laos which were all a former territories of the great khmer empire. we have to ask how did cambodia, thailand and laos come about as a nation. i believe the great khmer contribution are in these countries today. these three countries existed or came about as a result of ancient khmer civilization after all.
khmer empire represents greatness khmer greatness or civilization; that in itself is a great contribution to nation building of cambodia, thailand and laos from that civilization, really! yes, the clues are in present-day countries of cambodia, thailand and laos culture, gov't, and institutions of learning of these neighboring counttries, you know.
yes, we have to unlock the mystery of the great khmer empire; it was shrouded in mystery, alright; that's what makes it so fascinating in a way, really! welcome to the khmer world!
we know cambodia's khmer angkor civilization gave birth to siem and liev for sure!
khmer history is very interesting! it's like reading a story or literature.
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