Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Meeting another China: exhibiting Chinese [folk] art and popular culture in the Orient Museum

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 4; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/21500894.2014.937505

2150-0908

Rui Oliveira Lopes,

Cultural Industries and Urban Development

This paper examines the role of Western museums, in particular the Museu do Oriente (Orient Museum) in Lisbon, Portugal, concerning the display of Chinese folk art and popular culture, contributing to a wider perspective of the image of China, after 500 years of artistic and cultural exchange between Portugal, Macau and China. The Orient Museum comprises a large collection of Chinese art and material culture which offers a wider perspective of Greater China. One aspect of the collection provides a ‘mirror’ of the cultural and artistic exchange between Portugal and China, while the other presents another perspective on China, focusing on the regional distinctiveness of Chinese ethnicity, religious traditions and the unique artistic practices of different regions of China. Unlike the typical porcelain, silk, furniture and other artworks that became familiar to Europeans as a result of global trade during the Modern period, the folk art and popular material culture from different regions presents another perspective on Chinese art and culture, traditionally considered within the scope of ethnography and therefore unworthy of display in encyclopaedic or art museums in the West. The main topics discussed in this paper include how Western communities perceive Chinese artistic, cultural and religious heterogeneity, how the museum acts as a place for intercultural dialogue through curatorial practices and parallel activities, the role of the museum in the conception of a non-stereotypical image of China, and the preservation of regional cultures as part of Greater China.