Ashmolean Museum Oxford (II)

Laura Lai in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford 
Photo by Laura Lai

by Laura Lai/Uncategorized

I was particularly impressed by … the whole museum. But I was particularly amazed by some statues that were several meters tall. I was admiring and thinking: ‘How did you get in? You definitely did not use the front door!’ They might have been there since the beginning of the construction. Or they might have been brought in by pieces, but the whole looked sensationally impressive.  I long searched for an idea about the way to artistically be able to walk the readers of this review through the several concrete artifacts of the Ashmolean Museum. It is a few months ago that I have got the idea, but I saved it for this time of the year…. .

‘Once upon a time… No! No! No! It was not once upon a time, but last year on December 31^st, when Laura, a writing drama student in Oxford, went to the Ashmolean Museum. It was at the ground floor that she came across Buddha – the statue of him from 200 AD. He was holding Guy Fawkes’ Lantern that somebody must have brought him from the underground level. Buddha was saying something, but only animals could understand him. Therefore Laura went to see the Egyptian artifacts. A ‘Camel’ from the Tang Dynasty was rushing down the stairs from the first floor and from the Ancient Egypt Amun-Re was running to Buddha. On his way, he broke the ‘Octopus Jar’ (1450-1400 BC). But it was right then when a granite vulture (from the 25^th dynasty) considered gathering the pieces together. He put all them in Guy Fawkes’ Lantern. Buddha smiled pleased and said something. Then even more animals kept on coming: a Khmer guardian lion from Cambodia, other two lions from Ancient Cyprus and so many others that would be hard for me to name them. Nandi, the Bull of Shiva from South India (1500-1700), brought Buddha a chair to sit, while waiting for all the animals. It was a Chinese chair from the mid-19^th century, made of wood with mother-of-pearl and marble dream stones. After all the animals gathered, Buddha kindly asked the ‘Camel’ to go the underground level and bring some coins from the 300,000 coins collection. The ‘Camel’ soon carried back coins from the 2,500 BC, from 600 BC, 50 BC-400 AC, 1250-1300, from 1500-1800 and to present day. She brought quite the whole collection because there were many animals that Buddha gathered and they were not about the race against each other, but they all went on the Ashmolean Museum’s Rooftop Restaurant, in order to celebrate the New Year. They do that every year. And they do so this year, too.’

            HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!