Indochina`s archaeological heritage on display in France
Transcription
Indochina`s archaeological heritage on display in France
Virtual Visions of Angkor : Plaster casts and Drawings in the Indochinese Museum of Trocadero (1878-1925) Pierre Baptiste (Curator, Musée Guimet Paris) The Indochinese Museum of Trocadero was initiated by Louis Delaporte in 1878 in the effervescence of the Paris World Fair. At a time when the richness and antiquity of the Khmer Civilisation was still under considered by most of the Europeans, the aim of this unique institution was to give the most complete image of an unknown culture, introducing the public to the main aspects of urbanism, architecture and sculpture of ancient Cambodia. The subject of this paper is to show how the plaster casts and architectural drawings that were added to the collection of original sculptures of this museum were conceived in a classical European spirit that gave birth to an idealized – and sometimes dreamed – vision of Khmer archaeology. Image left: Louis Delaporte, Ideal view of the Northern Part of the Royal Palace of Angkor Thom, ink and colours on paper, Musée Guimet Image right: Anonymous, View of the “Bayon tower” in the Indochinese Museum of the Trocadero, photography on paper, Musée Guimet Biographical information Curator in charge of Southeast Asia in Musee Guimet since 1996, Pierre Baptiste has re-organised the Khmer, Thai, Burmese, Javanese and Vietnamese exhibition galleries of the museum. Specialist of the arts and civilisations of the Indochinese peninsula, he organised exhibitions with Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. As a teacher, he gave lectures in the Faculty of Archaeology of Phnom Penh, and now in the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. He is involved in cooperation projects in Vietnam with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bibliography (since 2001, selection) - « La restauration des sculptures khmères du musée Guimet », Techne, n°13-14, 2001 - « Le piédestal de Van Trach Hoa : un bali-pitha d'un type inédit », Arts asiatiques, tome 58, 2003, pp.168-176 - « L'Art de l'Asie du Sud-Est », Voyage spirituel (Ahmet Ertug dir.), Ertug-Kocabiyik, Paris, 2004 -Trésors d'art du Vietnam, la sculpture du Champa, co-édition musée Guimet – Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 2005 (avec Thierry zéphir) -Missions archéologiques françaises au Vietnam, Les monuments du Champa, photographies et itinéraires, 1902-1904, co-édition musée Guimet – Les Indes savantes (avec Thierry Zéphir, Jérome Guesquière et Simon Delobel) -« Angkor – Drei Jahrhunderte Entdeckungsgeschichte (1585-1882) », Angkor – Götliches Erbe Kamboschas, Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, 2006, p.18-23 (et notices 5-6-7-8-38-42-49-59-60-64-84-89 du catalogue) - L’art khmer dans les collections du musée Guimet, Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 2008 (avec Thierry Zéphir) - Dvāravatī, aux sources du bouddhisme en Thaïlande, co-édition musée Guimet – Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 2009 (avec Thierry Zéphir) - « Monuments du Champa. La date des styles de My Son A 1 et de Chanh Lo (Xe – XIe siècles) », Monuments et Mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot, Tome 88, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Paris, 2010, pp.151-187