04/08/2003

 

OPENING CEREMONY OF THE EXHIBITION “ALEXANDER THE GREAT: EAST – WEST CULTURAL CONTACTS FROM GREECE TO JAPAN” HELD AT THE TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM, UENO    

 

Photo from the ceremony of the opening of the Exhibition on “ALEXANDER THE GREAT: East – West Cultural Contacts from Greece to Japan” at the Tokyo National Museum on the 4th of August 2003. 

 

The ceremony was attended by a large number of visitors who admired the exhibits coming from various museums of Greece and other European countries as well as from Japan.  In the photo from the left, Mr. T. Furukawa, Senior Officer of Planning Div. of NHK, Mr. K. Ebisawa, Chairman of NHK, Mr. K. Rodoussakis, Ambassador of Greece, Mr. H. Uchiyama, President of the Yomiuri Shimbun and Mr. T. Sugawa, Deputy Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, while they breast the tape of the inauguration ceremony.

 

Mr. Katsuji Ebisawa, Chairman of NHK, addressing the opening ceremony.

 

 

 

H. E. Mr. Kyriakos Rodoussakis, Ambassador of Greece, addressing

the opening ceremony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     August 5, 2003

 

OPENING CEREMONY OF THE EXHIBITION “ALEXANDER THE GREAT:  EAST-WEST CULTURAL CONTACTS FROM GREECE TO JAPAN”  (Yomiuri Shimbun)

 

 

The opening ceremony of the exhibition “Alexander the Great:  East-West Cultural Contacts from Greece to Japan”, in a frame work of the cultural project of Athens Olympic (Cultural Olympiad), was held at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, on the 4th.

 

This exhibition is to verify the influence of Greek culture on Japanese culture after its fusion with the culture of central Asia and India caused by the eastward conquests of Alexander the Great, being held from the 5th until October the 5th.

 

The exhibition of the stature of the Wind God, national treasure of Sanjusangendo, Myohoin temple in Kyoto, was cancelled due to removal of its left arm during its transportation.

 

The Wind God is a wooden stature of Kamakura period and is now under repair work at the cultural asset preservation and repair centre of the Kyoto National Museum. 

 

A representative of the Tokyo National Museum says “We feel awfully sorry about this accident and appologize to the Myohoin Temple and the visitors at this exhibiton”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT 

EAST – WEST CULTURAL CONTACTS

FROM GREECE TO JAPAN

AT THE TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM

 

August 5 – October 5, 2003

Heiseikan, Tokyo National Museum, Ueno Park

 

Opening hours:       9.30-17.00

                              9.30-18.00 on Fridays

Closed:                   September 1, 8, 16, 22 & 29 (Open daily in August )      

 

Alexander the Great of Macedonia in northern Greece conquered entirely from Egypt to Central Asia after he destroyed the major nation Achaemenid empire of the Orient. This is the historical fact known as Alexander the Great's conquest of the East (323 B.C.- 334 B.C.). On that occasion, the Greek civilization was transmitted to the large range from the east coast of Mediterranean to Central Asia and Indian subcontinent, bringing about prosperity of the Hellenistic civilization assimilated to the local cultural tradition. In great cooperation with the Greek government, as a project of Cultural Olympiad (cultural project related to the Athens Olympic Games in 2004), many precious cultural properties were sent from the art museums and museums of Greece to this exhibition.  Moreover, the globally known fine-arts works possed by the worlds’ leading museums, such as the British Museum, Musee du Louvre, and Ermitage art museum, etc. were brought together to follow the process of propagation and acceptance of the Greek fine arts, and at the same time, to verify its ripple effect having reached Far East Japan along the silk roads. 

This is a dynamic exhibition on the route of the magnificent civilization transmitted across Eurasia, from the Mediterranean world to the Far East.

 

For further information please visit http://www.nhk-p.co.jp/tenran/alexander/ (Japanese only)

 

 

 

ADDRESS BY H. E. THE AMBASSADOR OF GREECE KYRIAKOS RODOUSSAKIS AT THE OPENING CEREMONY

 

           

I would like to take this opportunity on the opening of this magnificent and very ambitious exhibition on “ALEXANDER THE GREAT: East – West Cultural Contacts from Greece to Japan”  and convey to the distinguished friends, attending today’s happy event, all the wishes and cordial greetings of Mr. Evangelos Venizelos, Greek Minister of Culture, and Mr. Evgenios Giannakopoulos, Chairman of the “Cultural Olympiad, Hellenic Cultural Organization” Athens. This organization was assigned with the handsome task of all the coordinating effort required in Greece for today’s marvelous achievement.

 

Allow me at the same time to extend the sincere and heartfelt thanks of Greece to all the Japanese friends – coorganizers of this exhibition – and I mean the National Museum of Japan, the NHK, which has taken the initiative and the leading role of the whole operation, and the newspaper YOMIURI. With all their dedication, meticulous preparation and untiring joint teamwork, they finally organized an exhibition of an unprecedented scale and impressive dimension, as well as definitely of an historic importance.

 

It is for the first time, that, thanks to our Japanese organizers, the EURO – ASIAN cultural message of Alexander the Great is being established through a comprehensive exhibition, beyond the books of historians or archaeological research. Furthermore, today’s exhibition is giving ample evidence of the influence of the Greco – Indian or Greco – Bactrian cultural heritage, which lasted for a number of centuries and was finally transmitted as far as to Japan. A glimpse of the transmission of the Greco – Bactrian civilization toward the Asian Continent and Japan was also given through the exhibitions held at this same Museum (“The Art of Gandhara, Pakistan” and The Art of Mathura, India”) late last year. It was one century ago on the other hand, that coincidentally a Greek – Irish – Japanese writer, Lafcadio Hearn, in his attempt to interpret Japanese culture and religion, intuitively traced some of the similarities of Greco – Indian or Aryan – Indian cults with those of Japan.

 

I am sure that the exhibition on Alexander the Great, which opens in Tokyo today and in Kobe in October, is destined to kindle a fervent and fertile dialogue on the Hellenic - Japanese cultural affinities intertwined during  Alexander’s era.

 

This is already so eloquently exposed in Professor Katsumi TANABE’s (of Chuo University) text, under the title: “FROM GREECE TO JAPAN”, included in the catalogue, following Professor TANABE’s longstanding research on the matter.

 

I am more than happy as well, since the Greek Ministry of Culture and the organizing “Cultural Olympiad” Hellenic Culture Organization, gladly accepted to include this exhibition in the framework of the cultural events marking the “Cultural Olympiad” in view of the Athens Olympic Games of 2004, together with other equally important Greek – Japanese cultural events such as:

The successful performance of the National Theater of Greece with Sophocles’ “ANTIGONE” in Tokyo last March, next year’s (July 1-3, 2004) presentation of the Japanese theater – director Mr. NINAGAWA, Sophocles’  ancient tragedy “OEDIPUS REX”, at the HEROD ATTICUS Ancient Theater under the Acropolis’ shadow, and the exhibition, for the first time in Europe, of the designs and paintings of the famous late Japanese film director KUROSAWA in Thessaloniki, Northern Greece, in September 2004.

 

Last but not least, I am personally thankful to the organizers of the “ALEXANDER THE GREAT” exhibition, on the opportunity offered to come again in contact with archaeologists I admire. Archaeologists are in general very much respected in my country. Every time I come in touch with archaeologists, I bear in mind this witty and very sharp mind of the British letters: The writer AGATHA CHRISTIE, married to and archaeologist  herself, used to say: “An archaeologist is the best husband a woman could have: The older she gets, the more interested he is in her”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CULTURAL AGENCY MONTHLY BULLETIN     July, 2003

 

Event Information:

Tokyo National Museum

Alexander the Great

East-West cultural Contacts form Greece to Japan

Tue. Aug. 5- Sun. Oct. 5

 

Do you remember the eastward conquests of Alexander the Great of Macedonia started in 334 B.C.?   There may be some persons who remember studying for examinations in olden days.  It is a historical important affair that the Persian Empire of the Orient was conquered by Greek.  In 323 B.C. when the king died of an illness, the territory was divided by the Generals and a group of the Hellenistic states with Greek rulers became independent. In the West to Central Asia, Syria of Seleucids governed a vast territory.

 

Around the 5th century B.C., the Greek fine arts entered the classic period and many masterpieces were produced.  At that time, Achemenian Persia compiled ancient Orient fine arts into one book, and completed splendid court art.

When Persia went to ruin, this east-and-west balance was collapsed and the Greek culture had flown into the east suddenly.

 

When the Seleucids became weak after that, the Parthia kingdom of Iranian origin and the Greeco-Bactrians became independent in eastern part of the territory, and in the Central Asia to the northwest part of the Indian subcontinent had come to adjacent to the Maurya empireof India, and later to the Kushans of Iranian origin.  As a result of Greek culture contacting and uniting with Iranian and Indian culture at that area, Hellenism or Eastern Hellenistic culture and civilization were born.

 

The good example of Eastern and Western cross-culture contact is the Gandharan Buddhist art.  In Gandhara, many Buddhist temples were built and Buddha sculptures as well as gods sculptures were made.  Creating the images of deities is the Greek way which had never been done in Gandhara till that time.

 

For example, in Gandhara Kushan wind god  “Oado” was worshiped but its sculpture was not created.  Therefore, this god adopted the image of Greek North wind god Boreas who runs fast with a mantle opened by both hands.  Similarly, The Kushan god of wealth, Pharro, and fertile gods Yakşas and Kubera of India assimilated to the Greek god Hermes of wealth and protector of merchants and the road .

New Gods were also born from the contacts of east and west.  For example, Vaiśravaņa is a guide and protector of the Buddha, modeled after the image of Greek hero Heracles.  The Heracles’s weapon club had changed to vajra that originally belonged to Indra.

 

About the journey of the Gods along the silk roads from Gandhara to China and to our country, I guess it needless to explain.    Whole route continues from the Mt. Olympus to the capital in Nara, and the conquests to east of Alexander the Great caused to open its traffic.  It is possible to consider that one of the genes of Japanese fine arts originates in Hellenism.

 

This exhibition consists of " Part I: Two predominant artistic traditions before the advent of Alexander the Great, "Part II: The advent of Alexander the Great and his Era", "Part III: East-West Cultural Contact – Hellenism and Iranism ", and " Epilogue: Transmission to Japan."

The exhibited works are171 in total, the prominent artworks treasured by western countries including Greece as well as superior collections possessed by the museums, art museums, temples and individuals of our country. It will be a great opportunity for you to appreciate the quality of the fine arts from east and west, driving a thought to the way of the civilization of Eurasian Continent crossing.  

(Ken Goto, Senior Researcher)

 

 

 

 

    

 

NHK Special Eurasian Empires (Japanese only), which was broadcasted in April to July 2003, will be on air again as follows.

 

1.                        Alexander the Great - The challenge to the Persian Empire

            Wed., Aug. 6 at 0.25 a.m. – 1.20 a.m.

2.         Heritage of Alexander – Farthest Greek city

            Thu., Aug. 7 at  0.25 a.m. – 1.20 a.m.

3.         Gandhara - Land of Buddhism

            Fri, Aug. 8  at 0.25 a.m. – 1.20 a.m.

     4.          Mediterranean Empire Rome – Dream to the East

                 Sat. Aug. 9 at 0.25 a.m. – 1.20 a.m.