"There is a brotherhood of man,
A benevolent brotherhood of man,
A noble tie that binds,
All human hearts and minds
Into one brotherhood of man."
The Frank Loesser song lyrics above are a capsule of the theme of this program called "Encounters" in the series of "Civilizations."
After a decent program on comparative religions, this episode on "Encounters" thrusts the viewers right back into the mode of political correctness. The filmmakers attempt to demonstrate how the fifteenth-century age of exploration was a golden age of curiosity, mutual respect, and exchange of goods and ideas. In other words, the universal brotherhood of man! One of program's implausible themes is that "Europe was a bit player" in its encounters with the world. But the program content demonstrates the exact opposite.
Beautifully carved Benin bronzes were looted by Europeans in the nineteenth century. In Western Africa, Benin was the site of some of the earliest encounters with the Europeans. The Oba tribal kings and the Efe people are depicted in the small works of art. "Idia" is the Queen Mother represented in one of the most memorable of the objects. A musical horn is from the House of Aviz. The Lisbon traders brought back both people and objects. One in ten residents in Lisbon was African. The program would have us think that Lisbon was in the vanguard of wish-fulfillment twenty-first-century globalization theory.
Spain's encounter with the Aztecs is apparent in the double-headed serpent carved in turquoise, a gift from Montezuma to Cortes. For a brief moment, Montezuma may have believed that Cortes was Quetzalcoatl. But that impression probably lasted no more than ten minutes. If Cortes were a god, Montezuma would not want to send him packing. Through the codices, Spanish friars ask surviving Aztec artist to leave a record of the civilization just destroyed by the conquistadors. Thereafter, the old Aztec religion is morphed into Christianity. The traditional Day of the Dead in the Aztec tradition becomes All Saints Day in the newly imposed Christian religion. The blood sacrifices of the Aztecs are presented unconvincingly as similar to the artistic representation of the Crucifixion in the Spanish Baroque period in such artistic works as those of El Greco. The only similarity was the color red.
Japan's encounter with the West occurs with the visiting Portuguese merchants. At first, Japan opened its doors, but soon had contempt for the greasy traders, as apparent in the images depicted on the Namban Screens. The filmmakers once again stretch their unpersuasive globalization thesis in the metaphor of a "global circus" arriving in Japan. The Catholic missionaries and indeed all foreigners were not welcome by the shogun. The Japanese Tea Ceremony is likened to modern "performance art" in the use of the pottery and the Asahi bowels.
Two century of isolation followed in Japan. The only tenuous connection remaining with the Europeans was a small group of Dutch traders living on Deshima Island and becoming a fixture in the Japanese feudal system. The famous stereoscopes left images of the cityscapes. A large, bare canvas with only several lines sketched in is described as a masterpiece. In fact, it look like a "slice of ice," as Okyo fuses European ideas with Japanese cultural tradition. Is this Japanese traditional art, or is it European Expressionism?
The feisty little Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century is presented as "the epicenter of the world." Amsterdam is the birthplace of modern capitalism. Artistic works are imported from around the world in a vulgar display of conspicuous consumption. Where is Simon Schama to describe the "embarrassment of riches"? Johannes Vermeer presents the art of everyday life and an interior experience. Yet, many of the objects depicted in his paintings portray globalization to the filmmakers.
The Dutch also had an encounter with the scientific world. The work of Maria Sibyla Merian includes watercolors with meticulous attention to detail in insects. Merian traveled in 1699 to South America, where she spent time in the Dutch colony of Surinam. She returned home to produce a bestselling book that revolutionizes book illustrations.
With its tentacles extending throughout the world, the British East India Company takes charge in Calcutta, India. The German artist Johann Zoffray took artistic commissions. In Lucknow, India, there is a clash between traditional Indian culture and the English capitalists. William Fraser is like Colonel Kurtz, a swashbuckling figure in the employ of the "Company." Fraser commissions painters to capture the realities of Indian society. Ghulam Ali Khan was a memorable Mogul painter. James Skinner was an adventurer who memorialized India just prior to the British takeover. The contemporary artist Olivia Fraser continues the work of her famous ancestor. She discovers the tradition of miniature painters. He work blends the modern with the traditional. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are portrayed as the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer. The strength lies in the details.
By the middle of the eighteenth century, the East India Company had taken control of most of the subcontinent. Richard Wellesley's architecture brings British neoclassicism to India. For the filmmakers, this is "political theater" that demonstrates the Europeans' power and superiority in Enlightenment rationality over Oriental superstition and barbarism.
Next time: The Renaissance...except for this program, we must use the more politically correct term Renaissances, in order to be "inclusive."
A benevolent brotherhood of man,
A noble tie that binds,
All human hearts and minds
Into one brotherhood of man."
The Frank Loesser song lyrics above are a capsule of the theme of this program called "Encounters" in the series of "Civilizations."
After a decent program on comparative religions, this episode on "Encounters" thrusts the viewers right back into the mode of political correctness. The filmmakers attempt to demonstrate how the fifteenth-century age of exploration was a golden age of curiosity, mutual respect, and exchange of goods and ideas. In other words, the universal brotherhood of man! One of program's implausible themes is that "Europe was a bit player" in its encounters with the world. But the program content demonstrates the exact opposite.
Beautifully carved Benin bronzes were looted by Europeans in the nineteenth century. In Western Africa, Benin was the site of some of the earliest encounters with the Europeans. The Oba tribal kings and the Efe people are depicted in the small works of art. "Idia" is the Queen Mother represented in one of the most memorable of the objects. A musical horn is from the House of Aviz. The Lisbon traders brought back both people and objects. One in ten residents in Lisbon was African. The program would have us think that Lisbon was in the vanguard of wish-fulfillment twenty-first-century globalization theory.
Spain's encounter with the Aztecs is apparent in the double-headed serpent carved in turquoise, a gift from Montezuma to Cortes. For a brief moment, Montezuma may have believed that Cortes was Quetzalcoatl. But that impression probably lasted no more than ten minutes. If Cortes were a god, Montezuma would not want to send him packing. Through the codices, Spanish friars ask surviving Aztec artist to leave a record of the civilization just destroyed by the conquistadors. Thereafter, the old Aztec religion is morphed into Christianity. The traditional Day of the Dead in the Aztec tradition becomes All Saints Day in the newly imposed Christian religion. The blood sacrifices of the Aztecs are presented unconvincingly as similar to the artistic representation of the Crucifixion in the Spanish Baroque period in such artistic works as those of El Greco. The only similarity was the color red.
Japan's encounter with the West occurs with the visiting Portuguese merchants. At first, Japan opened its doors, but soon had contempt for the greasy traders, as apparent in the images depicted on the Namban Screens. The filmmakers once again stretch their unpersuasive globalization thesis in the metaphor of a "global circus" arriving in Japan. The Catholic missionaries and indeed all foreigners were not welcome by the shogun. The Japanese Tea Ceremony is likened to modern "performance art" in the use of the pottery and the Asahi bowels.
Two century of isolation followed in Japan. The only tenuous connection remaining with the Europeans was a small group of Dutch traders living on Deshima Island and becoming a fixture in the Japanese feudal system. The famous stereoscopes left images of the cityscapes. A large, bare canvas with only several lines sketched in is described as a masterpiece. In fact, it look like a "slice of ice," as Okyo fuses European ideas with Japanese cultural tradition. Is this Japanese traditional art, or is it European Expressionism?
The feisty little Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century is presented as "the epicenter of the world." Amsterdam is the birthplace of modern capitalism. Artistic works are imported from around the world in a vulgar display of conspicuous consumption. Where is Simon Schama to describe the "embarrassment of riches"? Johannes Vermeer presents the art of everyday life and an interior experience. Yet, many of the objects depicted in his paintings portray globalization to the filmmakers.
The Dutch also had an encounter with the scientific world. The work of Maria Sibyla Merian includes watercolors with meticulous attention to detail in insects. Merian traveled in 1699 to South America, where she spent time in the Dutch colony of Surinam. She returned home to produce a bestselling book that revolutionizes book illustrations.
With its tentacles extending throughout the world, the British East India Company takes charge in Calcutta, India. The German artist Johann Zoffray took artistic commissions. In Lucknow, India, there is a clash between traditional Indian culture and the English capitalists. William Fraser is like Colonel Kurtz, a swashbuckling figure in the employ of the "Company." Fraser commissions painters to capture the realities of Indian society. Ghulam Ali Khan was a memorable Mogul painter. James Skinner was an adventurer who memorialized India just prior to the British takeover. The contemporary artist Olivia Fraser continues the work of her famous ancestor. She discovers the tradition of miniature painters. He work blends the modern with the traditional. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are portrayed as the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer. The strength lies in the details.
By the middle of the eighteenth century, the East India Company had taken control of most of the subcontinent. Richard Wellesley's architecture brings British neoclassicism to India. For the filmmakers, this is "political theater" that demonstrates the Europeans' power and superiority in Enlightenment rationality over Oriental superstition and barbarism.
Next time: The Renaissance...except for this program, we must use the more politically correct term Renaissances, in order to be "inclusive."
