I spent half a day at the British Museum and was amazed and horrified by the vast array of beautiful things. I was heading through the main entrance to find the large-bag storage place and this huge carved rock caught my eye - one of the Easter Island figures! Massive with a powerful body and such authority in the face. Full of mana as the Maori would say. What is it doing here? Surrounded by all these other powerful things from all over the world. Seeing it so radically out of its own context made me feel strange. I now understand why Trevor in Sydney always called this place 'The Great Robber Gallery' - so many treasures stolen (or colonised) and crammed in together. At the same time I also appreciated the wonder of being able to vicariously visit these places through their artifacts. I wandered through ancient Europe and learnt some stuff about Vikings and Visigoths. I saw how the planting of grain spread from the Middle East across the rest of the world. I spent a long time looking for the India gallery and ended up in China under a large carving of Bodhisattvas from the 14th century, where I had a little rest. Then found myself in India by surprise and admired the intricate carving of Shiva with Parvati sitting on his knee, surrounded by adoring lesser deities. Fell in love with a Tara statue from 7th century Sri Lanka which had such grounded radiance that I am sure it should be in a temple somewhere. And yet all these wonders are gathered under one roof, with free entry to all, widening our understanding of this vast world. And I didn't even get in to see the exhibition of the Chinese Warriors - it is completely booked out. Nor did I visit Egypt, South America, Africa and Oceania - more travels for another time...
