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As the "melting pot of the ancient world," Sicily offers a
fascinating fusion of art and architecture with touches of
influence from the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, French, Spanish
and Italians. Special showpieces highlighting the rich diversity of
the Sicilian culture are now on display in China with some
showcasing traces of the Chinese culture in early Italian
history.
China is a vast country in the East. Sicilian region is but a
greater component of Italy in Europe. "Despite their difference in
size, they share at least two facts: a pivotal role in regional
history, and 5,000 years of human civilization," said Antonino
Laspina, a Beijing-based commissioner of the Italian Trade
Commission. Laspina made his remarks on April 29 during the opening
of a grand exhibition entitled "Sicily, A Continent with 5,000
Years of History" in central Beijing.
As part of the Year of Italy in China, a year-long cultural
exchange program between the two countries, the exhibition is
jointly organized by Italy Trade Commission, Regione Siciliana the
island's local authorities and the National Museum of China.
Presented at the central display hall on the first floor of the
museum, the Italian art show is running until June 27 in Beijing
before it will reach wider Chinese audiences in such cities as
Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen later this year, said Su Shengwen,
a key coordinator for the exhibition and art scholar with the
National Museum of China.
"We hope that the exhibition, like previous ones on Italian
fashion and industrial design held last year, will provide Chinese
viewers a rare chance to know more about Italian culture, an
important part of European cultures," Su told China Daily.
After long and arduous preparations since early 2005 conducted
by Italian and Chinese art experts, the exhibition features 173
Sicilian treasures from the Paleolithic period to the Byzantine
era, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and Baroque periods,
and selected pieces from several museums and sites of cultural
heritages of Sicily, said Antonino Lumia, director general of
Sicilian Regional Department for the Cultural Heritage, Education
and Environment.
"On display in Beijing is but a small portion of what Sicily can
offer to international visitors. The whole island of Sicily is like
an open museum without walls. And visitors arriving at the island
will be lured by both the unique Sicilian arts and crafts and the
varied lifestyles of the local communities," said Laspina, adding
that the Mediterranean island expects more Chinese visitors in the
coming years.
Lying between Europe and Africa, Sicily, the oft-called "melting
pot of the ancient world," has been touched, changed and marked by
a myriad of cultures first the Greeks and the Romans, then the
Arabs and Normans, and finally, the French, Spanish and Italians,
all contributing to an unparalleled historical legacy.
As is illustrated by the precious showpieces at the National
Museum of China, this multifaceted lineage is reflected in the
colorful fusion of art and architecture including two of the
best-preserved Greek temples in the world as well as in the mixed
appearances of the inhabitants, ranging from the red-haired, blonde
and blue-eyed Norman descendants, to the dark-eyed Mediterranean
natives, according to Lumia.
The ongoing exhibition also reveals early links between the
Chinese and Sicilian cultures, pointed out Maria Luisa Fama, a
major curator for the exhibition from Sicily.
One telling piece is the rare 17th century volume of
"Zhongyong," or "Doctrine of the Mean," literally meaning the
Middle Path, compiled by Prospero Intorcetta, a Sicilian Jesuit and
missionary to China and published in Sicily under the title of
"Sinarum Scientia Politico Moralis."
Another example is a gilded bronze lamp which bears coral
decorations and was believed to have been made in 1633 in Sicily.
The lamp-makers had borrowed ideas from the Chinese lantern in its
designs of the shape and the red coloring, Fama explained.
A third example is a ceramic piece used as a floor in an 18th
century Sicilian family home.
The showpiece illustrates fishermen on three boats at sea trying
to catch fishes. The fishermen's facial features are very much
Chinese, and the scarves and accessories they wore can be
identified as made-in-China items that were viewed as luxury goods
by Italians at that time, Fama explained.
(China Daily May 11, 2006)
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