Shangri-La vol3 - MIHO MUSEUM

M u s e u m T o p i c s

Two European exhibitions feature art objects from the Miho Museum Collection
The "Treasures of the Orient: Masterpieces Works from the Miho Museum, Japan" opened at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna on June 22. The exhibition consists of 56 art objects from the ancient Egyptian, West Asian and Greco-Roman civilizations. This is the first time since the Museum's opening that works from its collection have been shown in Europe. It is also the first time that the concept behind the creation of the Miho Museum, the idea that a museum can be a synthesis of art, nature, and architecture, was brought home to a European audience.At the opening ceremony on June 21 both the Austrian Minister of Culture and the Japanese Ambassador to Austria gave congratulatory speeches. Since its opening, the exhibition has been enthusiastically received.
	The art objects displayed in this exhibition give the visitor a vivid sense of the era in which they were created. Among the works, the "Assyrian Cup" is prominently displayed. Made in Assyria during the Mesopotamian era in the 7th century BC, the cup is nearly 25 cm in height and traces of ancient restorations can be seen on its surface. Its entire exterior is covered with minute carvings of over 130 people taking part in victory scenes of the Empire of Elam.
On its exterior mouth is the inscription with the name of King Assurbanipal, the 7th century Assyrian ruler, and the inscription with the name of other kings, including those of Iran, are carved on the mouth's interior. This gilded silver cup reveals a complicated period when Assyria reached its zenith in the 7th century BC and then was conquered by the Iranians, who then dominated the Orient. The exhibition will travel to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, The Netherlands, where the name of the exhibition will be changed to "Ritual and Beauty: Outstanding Works of Ancient Art from the Miho Museum, Japan." This second European exhibition will be open to the public from November 19, 1999 to March 19, 2000.		Assyrian cup 7th century B. C.

	Kunsthistorisches Museum
	June 22 to October 31, 1999
	Burgring 5 Maria-Theresien-Platz, Wien, Austria Tel: 43-1-525240
	Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
	November 18, 1999 to March 19, 2000
	Rapenburg 28, 23 11 EW Leiden, The Netherlands Tel: 31-71-5-163-163