Looking to fill in a much less known and appreciated aspect of Chinese art – more particularly the country’s diverse architecture – the Royal Museums of Art and History are presenting the exhibition ‘Under the Chinese Roof’ in close co-operation with China’s Henan Museum. It is the first time a large selection of this museum’s treasures – small scale models testifying 2,000 years of daily life and architecture – are put on display in the West.
For the souls of the deceased
Throughout its long course, Chinese civilization has produced absolutely stunning works of art, all witness to virtuoso craftsmanship, artistic inspiration and material richness. Masterpieces of terracotta, porcelain, jade, bronze and silk from the ‘Middle Empire’ are to be found among the treasures of countless museums throughout the world. The Henan Museum possesses a wealth of architectural models found in the graves of prominent Chinese and dating from the second century B.C. to the eighteenth century A.D. The purpose of many of these constructions in miniature was to draw back the souls of the deceased once they had returned from their sojourn in the hereafter. The large selection of models is supplemented with real architectural fragments.
Mills and summer-houses
Several of the models are quite spectacular in size, some of them being nearly two metres high and comprising several elements. Their variety reflects many different types of building: residential complexes, fortified farms, towers, repositories, theatres, pagodas and summer-houses, as well as modest dwellings, kitchens, mills, and even wells, pigsties and latrines. In many instances, they are enlivened by figurines of humans and animals. The materials generally employed are terracotta and stoneware, glazed or painted.
A special scenography
By way of linking the 200 architectural models and fragments, the exhibition also includes a slide –show of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings, which was made specially for projection and which provides a picture of the inventiveness and charm of Chinese architecture. A special scenography has been devised for the exhibition with large scale display windows, screenings of existing buildings and interactive games for children.
Illustration:: Spine ornament , Lion, glazed sandstone, Ming 16th century
PUBLICATION
Exhibition catalogue published by the Fonds Mercator, 32 x 28 cm, 272 p, € 35 (in the exposhop) .
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