The British Museum, which has lent 272 artifacts to the Capital
Museum of Beijing for an 80-day exhibition, plans to arrange more
displays in China in the future, said museum director Neil
MacGregor.
The launch of the exhibition on Saturday marks the first time
that the 253-year-old British Museum, the world's oldest national
public museum, has showcased some of its collections in the
capital.
The ongoing exhibition "Treasures of the World's Cultures"
covers a vast range of time from 2 million years ago to the
present, including sculptures, paintings, jewellery, porcelain, and
stone artifacts from all over the world.
"From these 270-plus objects we can see that people of different
regions had similar concerns, problems and hopes, and did almost
the same kind of things in ancient times," MacGregor told China
Daily on Saturday.
The ongoing exhibition, however, does not include any Chinese
artefacts collected by the museum.
But MacGregor pledged: "We are going to bring some Chinese
objects collected by the British Museum to China in the
future."
He said his museum was in talks with the Palace Museum, also
known as the Forbidden City, to arrange an exhibition next year
based on the relationship between China and Britain in the 18th
century. "Some Chinese artefacts, such as porcelains held by the
British Museum, will be displayed at the exhibition," the director
said.
However, some Chinese officials said the lack of Chinese objects
in the ongoing exhibition was because Beijing refused to recognize
British claims to Chinese porcelain, paintings, statues and books
that were acquired by imperial force.
The British Museum houses about 23,000 Chinese artefacts.
(China Daily March 20, 2006)
