Two ancient golden masks engage in ‘dialogue’
Archaeology and art history lovers had a rare opportunity last week to witness in China a so-called “dialogue” between two of the most remarkable works of ancient art in the world, i.e. the golden masks of Sanxingdui and of Mycenian king Agamemnon.
In the context of the International Symposium on Cultural Heritage Conservation by Digitization, held last week in Beijing, the digital projections of the two impressive artifacts of antiquity were placed side by side, enabling a rare comparison that the organizers named a “dialogue” between them.
The striking similarities between the two findings from Mycenae and Sanxingdui, two archeological sites with over 8,000 kilometers between them, have repeatedly generated the attention of archaeologists and art historians, as one cannot help noticing the common features they display.
This juxtaposition was made possible through the “Cultural Dialogue” project between Greece and China, and the result was extraordinary.
“We wanted to see the difference between the two masks. What are the different ideas behind them?”, explained Despina Ignatiadou, the Deputy Director General of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and Head of the Sculptures Collection Department in Greece’s biggest and oldest museum, who helped organize the event.
She did add that “we don’t want the digital measures to overwhelm the objects, so we’ve tried to keep a balance.”
Zhu Yarong, the deputy Director of the Management Committee of the Sanxingdui Scenic Area Museum, added that behind the golden masks lies the dialogue between the ancient Shu civilization in China and the Mycenean civilization in Greece.
Tang Jigen, professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology in China, argued that it is important to restore the two golden masks to their respective cultural background and compare the civilizations of the two regions. He went on to note that this will also play an important role in deepening the cultural exchanges between China and Greece.
[Sino-Hellenic Information Post]
