Rijksmuseum celebrates 4000 years of Asian bronze masterpieces in major exhibition

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is showcasing over 75 Asian bronze masterpieces this autumn, many of which are being seen in Europe for the first time.

Transcript

00:00We show that bronze connects Asia.

00:20You have Hinduism, Buddhism, and along those lines, bronze spreads, shapes spread, but

00:28each region has its own characteristics, so rather than to tell the story of bronze, we

00:36show how versatile it is, how it connects Asia.

00:55It's very rare to have objects of this status within exhibitions, even in Europe among the

01:04big galleries.

01:05Normally, to see something of this quality, you have to go to Thailand itself and to the

01:11country of origin.

01:20Every culture has its own unique way of casting and making objects for the purposes that they

01:26wanted to make these things for.

01:29I think the take home for me is that bronze touches every aspect of life in Asia, maybe

01:34more than it does here where I live in Europe.

01:38Here we have bells and we have statues in bronze and maybe some other things, but there

01:43it's got a significance.

01:45They're using it still for mirrors, for religious worship, it's in all of the temples, and it

01:50touches people in a way that it doesn't touch us here.