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| Asia |
| An Asia collection, especially when displayed in association with European art, is a form of Orientalism in itself. All of the art works exhibited here were ultimately chosen by Europeans; a European taste is being represented here in which the centuries-old interrelationship between Asia and Europe survives. Some of the groups of items shown - such as the examples of K'ang-Hsi porcelain from the collection of Augustus, the Elector of Saxony, objects formerly owned by the Habsburgs, or porcelain pieces with European gold mountings - have been in Europe for centuries, and have had a lasting influence on the history of our art. Others were brought to Europe during the first half of the present century in order to present an image of Asia that corresponded to developments in art history. The juxtaposition of European and Asiatic works of art is a tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages, and one that is continued in this Museum. Even here, there was no Far Eastern Department until some fifty years ago; until then, the objects were distributed among the "European” departments. The exhibition hall is a central space around which the study collection is grouped. The display cases primarily contain the collection's "highlights" of Chinese and Japanese ceramics and porcelain the focus being on the 18th century. Most notable here is the tea pottery from China and Japan. Buddhist sculptures and objects from the 4th till the 18th century are permanently displayed on four centrally positioned bases. The form of presentation is inspired by the concept of the "Lapidarium": the idea is not to recreate the original scenario but much rather an appropriate presentation of the objects and their history, which is often a forceful removal from their original purpose. / Johannes Wieninger Design: Peter Noever, CEO and Artistic Director of the MAK (February 1986 – February 2011) Curator: Johannes Wieninger, MAK Curator Asia Since 2007 the major objective of the MAK Permanent Collection Asia is to reveal the great variety of objects of the MAK Asia Collection in alternating exhibitions. |
