Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, the Portuguese Foundation that tandem with
INTACH put together the Christian Art Museum at Rachol Seminary (from where
it was later shifted to the Santa Monica Convent in Old Goa) and built from
scratch a Christian Art Museum and a Library of old and rare books in Kochi
(Cochin), is holding from 9th June to 5th September 2004 at its Gallery of
Temporary Expositions an exposition titled GOA E O GRAO-MOGOL (Goa and the
Grand-Moghul), with artistic objects that hold testimony to the cultural
exchanges between the Portuguese and the Moghul Empire in the 16th and 17th
centuries. The pieces that are going to be exhibited - some of which have
never before been shown in the West - are examples of the various influences
which were encouraged by the open spirit of the Moghul emperors and of the
mutual assimilation of the artistic, ornamental and thematic elements of the
two cultures. The project has been under preparation since 1999, with the
involvement of a team of international specialists whose research works are
included in a publication which will accompany the exposition. The
exposition will be divided into five sections: 1 - Linking the empires; 2 -
The court of the "firangis" and the court of the "mogores" (moghuls); 3 -
Between religions: Christianity in a Muslim empire: 4 - Crossed images:
Views from the West in the Moghul art; 5 - The influence of Moghul art on
the Portuguese artistic production.

The book, to be released at the Exposition, will have the same title, will
have two editions (Portuguese and English), and is edited by the Foundation
together with the prestigious Scala publishers, the latter being the sole
distributors out of Portugal. The book will contain the following essays:
"Moghul Expansion in the Deccan, 1570-1605: Contemporaneous Perspectives" by
Muzaffar Alam (University of Chicago) and Sanjay Subrahmanyam (Ecole des
Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris): "Two Portuguese Portraits of
Jehangir's India: Jeronimo Xavier and Manuel Godinho de Eredia" by Jorge
Flores; "The Viceroys' Palace, in Goa" by Pedro Dias (University of
Coimbra); "'Rarities of Goa' in the Courts of Humayun, Akbar and Jehangir
(1530-1627)" by Pedro Moura de Carvalho (Khalili Collection of Islamic Art,
London); "Precious Stones, Jewels and Cameos: The Journey of Jacques de
Coutre from Goa to Agra" by Nuno Vassallo e Silva (deputy director of the
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum and the commissioner of this exposition); "The
Land of the 'Mogor' (Moghul)" by Susan Stronge (Victoria and Albert Museum,
London); "Between Religions: Christianity in a Muslim Empire" by Gauvin
Alexander Bailey (Clark University, U.S.A.); "Prince Salim and Christian
Art" by Asok Kumar Das (former director of the Jaipur Museum, India); "Views
from the West in the Moghul Art" by Milo C. Beach (Arthur M. Sackler - Freer
Gallery of Art, Washington); and "The Representation of the Jesuit
Missionaries in the Moghul Painting" by Amina Okada (Guimet Museum, Paris).
The book will have 240 pages and is priced at: 39.00 Euros (soft cover) and
49.50 Euros (hard cover).

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

There is also an exposition (I don't know which was the inaugural date),
running until 20th of this month of June at the library of the "Academia das
Ciencias de Lisboa", on the restoration - carried out by the International
Service of the same Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian - of the Portuguese
Historic Heritage in different countries. These heritage sites include -
among many others - the following: Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam
(Netherlands); Main Tower of the Arzila Fortress (Morocco); Church of "Santo
Rosario" (Holy Rosary) of Dacca (Bangladesh); Fort of Hormuz (Iran);
Vestiges of the Church of "Sao Domingos" (St. Dominic) at Ayutthaya
(Thailand); an 18th century Portuguese house in the Sacramento colony
(Uruguay); and Fort Jesus, Mombasa (Kenya).

Jorge
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