The Oriental Art Gallery, a new permanent exhibition at the National Museum of Art of Romania (MNAR), is scheduled to open starting November 22.

Located on the third floor of the museum’s HQ on Calea Victoriei, the gallery includes close to 600 items from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Dagestan, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Japan, Syria, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, selected by the museum from existing collections in the country.

The space dedicated to Islamic art showcases items made between the 7th and 20th centuries, revealing the mutual influence of artistic practices, such as epigraphic decoration and the alternation between arabesque and geometric vegetal elements. The pieces of Islamic art reflect the presence of common features in terms of artistic conception and the repertoire of decorative motifs, in both sacred and secular art objects: carpets, costumes, embroideries, ceramics, metal items, and weapons, a presentation of the gallery explains.

The hall presenting Chinese art provides an overview of the evolution of artistic genres from the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) to the first half of the 20th century. The selection of paintings, sculptures, textiles, as well as ceramics, jade, cloisonné items and lacquerware illustrate the various styles of court art and folk art.

The halls dedicated to Japanese art present defining objects of Japanese culture from the 17th to 20th centuries, from the Edo, Meiji and Taisho eras: paintings on silk and paper, sculptures, bronze vessels, ceramics, ivory items exhibited alongside the samurai armors of the tosei-gusoku type. Polychrome woodblock printing, one of the highlights of the Edo period, is illustrated by important works by masters active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige, Kunisada, and Kuniyoshi. This section also includes a tea ceremony room.

This January, MNAR opened its European Decorative Art Gallery, which, together with the Oriental Art Gallery, can be visited based on a single entrance ticket.

The new permanent exhibition is the result of a community effort involving museum professionals and a series of partners, sponsors, and donors who joined the project over time, MNAR explained.

“The opening of the Oriental Art Gallery at the National Museum of Art of Romania is a remarkable achievement and marks an important moment for our community. This new space offers us the opportunity to explore and understand more deeply Oriental culture, thus facilitating a rapprochement between diverse traditions and aesthetic visions,” Veronica Savanciuc, the president of the Friends of MNAR Association, said.

“We open […] an exhibition space that encompasses the work of my colleagues – museum professionals, restorers, and technicians - but also the enthusiasm of those who joined in with financial or logistical support, making this project an expression of solidarity for art and culture,” Călin Stegerean, the general director of MNAR, said.

(Photo: MNAR on Facebook)

simona@romania-insider.com