East meets jest

I managed to see the Victoria and Albert Museum's Encounters show today. The show attempts to delve into Asian and European trade relations between 1500 and 1800 through a variety of museum objects, from hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, through Indian chintz, to Japanese sake bottles.

It was really interesting to see the hybrid objects that combined eastern techniques with western tastes. Such as the 17th century Japanese black and gold lacquer altars to the Virgin Mary and Child, with Indian mother-of-pearl inlay. Or the Crucifix made from jade and set with gold and rubies in a typical Mughal Indian decorative style.

But it is humour that makes the show, frequently at the expense of the Europeans. In one piece, Japanese artists have painted the Portuguese nanban-jan, or "southern barbarians", with huge noses. In another, a Japanese courtesan wrestles with a lusty, hairy European whilst lighting incense to disguise his ruddy smell. The Japanese also considered the Dutch appropriate decoration for their sake bottles. And there is India's Tippoo's Tiger, a large wooden statue of a British soldier being mauled by a tiger, complete with musical organ in the tiger's side to be played in crescendo to emulate the soldier's screams.

Many of the pieces depict, once again with derisive humour, the Europeans bearing gifts far less luxurious than Eastern products. Of course, the Europeans were latecomers to global trade. When the Portuguese first "discovered" (with the help of an Indian sailor) Asia in 1498, there was already a sophisticated and flourishing trading network centered on cosmopolitan sea ports spanning Arabia, Persia, India and China and dominated by luxury goods. It's these non-European networks that I want to learn more about.

The show lacks much political and historical depth, but its sumptuousness makes it worth a visit.

Related review:
+ The barbarian invasion. A new show at the V&A puts a positive spin on cultural exhanges between east and west. But in 500 years, have our colonial instincts really moved on?

Other links today:
+ The Wong Kar-Wai DVD boxset is out in the US!
+ Kar-Wai's 2046 website. Flash-tastic, but only seems to work in Internet Explorer.

+ "I go into comic shops, thumb through comic books and graphic novels, and leave wondering what the hell all the fuss is about. I guess you could say I don't get comics." Kottke asks his readers to tell him what he's missing. I also don't get comics so I'm following this thread closely.

+ "The trouble with Band Aid is that you can buy the single, believe you have done your bit, and walk away none the wiser as to the causes of and solutions to poverty in the developing world." Mark Thomas asks what is the point of Band Aid. (Reg. req.; current edition of New Statesman).