by Kate Deeming
Our Epiphany Term event programme kicked off on Thursday 27 January with a highly enjoyable visit to the Oriental Museum It was great to catch up with members in person and to welcome some new members to their first SCR event. We were privileged to see a new special exhibition the day before it opened to the public – a collection of amazingly colourful and detailed prints illustrating Monogatari -the art of storytelling in Japanese woodblock prints.
We also looked around the new Silk Roads gallery, an introductory gallery for the whole Museum, which brings together works from across its collections to tell stories of trade, travel and exchange across the continent of Asia and into Europe. The gallery features visitor favourites, including a wonderful early 19th century Chinese bed with carved boxwood and ivory panels.
A particular highlight of our visit was the object handling session during which we were able to closely examine a beautiful child’s silk robe from China, and a range of artefacts from daily Ancient Egyptian life and afterlife. It was amazing to think these had been made around 31/2 thousand years ago!
Special thanks to Charlotte Spinks at the Museum for hosting our visit and for her expert guidance.
Some images from the evening
Click “view slideshow” for larger versions and to see acknowledgements.