Thursday, March 10, 2011

Discovering Sunken Tang Dynasty Treasures

Singapore’s new ArtScience Museum might look like a giant robotic baseball glove from the outside, but the structure’s sci-fi-like exterior belies the antiquity of its inaugural exhibits, all of which draw heavily on the theme of ancient interactions between East and West.

Having opened its doors just last month, the museum — part of the Marina Bay Sands casino resort — will be the first port of call on the four-year global tour of “Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds,” a collection of cargo uncovered in an Arab trading dhow, which sank in the waters off the Indonesian island of Betilung in the ninth century. The 18-meter ship, discovered in 1998, is the oldest such find to be salvaged in Southeast Asia. The exhibit runs until July 31 in Singapore.

Click here to read this article from the Wall Street Journal