'Passage to Asia' sparks trip down memory lane

‘A Passage to Asia’ is one of the summer exhibition offerings at the Center for Fine Arts in Brussels, and one definitely worth seeing. I’ll lay my cards on the table from the start and admit that I have a soft spot for Asian decorative arts. I used to work in Singapore and while I was there travelled around the region as much as possible: the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia and the Buddhist temple of Borobudur in Central Java count among my favourite trips, the Museum of Islamic Art in Kuala Lumpur and the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore among my favourite museums.

So as you can imagine, my visit to ‘A Passage to Asia’ was a bit of a trip down memory lane as well as a visual treat. There was also plenty new to learn. I fully recommend getting the audioguide (available in English) as it is full of interesting facts and anecdotes: I learnt that the English word ‘chintz’ derives from the Hindi word ‘chint’ meaning a dotted or painted cloth, that the Mongolian artist Zanabazar has been referred to as the ‘Michelangelo of Asia,’ and that Mary, mother of Jesus, was adopted into the pantheon of Hindu gods as Hindus became acquainted with Christianity in the 15th century.

In fact it is this cultural exchange that forms a common thread through the show, which runs until October to coincide with the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) hosted by Belgium that month. With more than 300 objects on loan from museums across Asia, the exhibition aims to highlight 2,500 years of exchanges between Asia and Europe. It is perhaps unsurprising that early on the project was nicknamed “mission impossible.” While acknowledging that such a vast subject matter cannot be dealt with in depth, the curators Jan Van Alphen and Kenson Kwok are happy to say that “mission impossible” has become reality.

The variety of artefacts on display - ranging from ancient maps to religious manuscripts, travelogues to textiles, bronze drums to ceramic vases - means that the visitor’s curiosity is constantly piqued and, if you’re anything like me, you’ll end up spending hours in the exhibition taking just one more look at this or that Korean ceramic, Indian textile or Balinese drum.

One fascinating theme within the exhibition is ‘Hellenism in Asia,’ where the influence of Alexander the Great’s conquests in Asia is highlighted. A second-century standing Buddha from India illustrates this fusion of Greco and Buddhist forms: on the one hand the Buddha has traditional long earlobes and his hair is piled up in a knot on his head, and on the other the figure wears a toga that shows the contours of the human body and is reminiscent of Greek sculptures.

The last section of the show is dedicated to cargoes recovered from shipwrecks, and includes many ceramics still intact centuries later. As the museum explains, the ships’ cargoes acted as ballast, causing the vessels to fall almost directly to the seabed and resulting in minimal damage to the goods. I can’t claim to have ever stumbled upon any archaeological treasures while scuba diving in Asia, but this part of the exhibition did bring to mind many an enjoyable diving trip in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. A wonderful exhibition, wonderful memories.