Encompassing the Globe: Portugal, Focus of This Summer's Smithsonian Exhibition Remains a Land to Discover

In 1497, at a sunny dockside in Lisbon, a fleet of four ships sailed into the Atlantic. Commanded by Vasco de Gama - this would be the first fleet ever to sail from Europe to India. Two years later, 14 ships under Pedro Álvares Cabral sailed to Índia, and along the way became the first ships to sail from Europe to South America. Over the next century Portuguese ships explored far off coasts from California and Canada, to Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. In less than a generation they had introduced one half of the planet to the other half, and opened a cultural, commercial, and spiritual interchange that would alter the future.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) May 14, 2007 -- Today Portugal is the westernmost nation in Europe, and the closest to the United States. With more than 400 miles of seacoast, Portugal and the sea have been interlinked since the nation's founding in the 12th century. In the Age of Exploration, Portuguese sailors used advances in science and navigation to build the first global trading network. "Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries" explores the artistic achievements that flourished when these sailors exposed new creative techniques and imagery to the world as they transported goods from port to port. The exhibit will open at the Smithsonian Institution on June 24, 2007.

The exhibition presents more than 250 objects produced by each of the cultures touched by Portugal's early trade routes. Organized by the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, with support from the Ministry of Culture of Portugal and Turismo de Portugal, "Encompassing the Globe" will be on view June 24, 2007, through Sept. 16, 2007, at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the neighboring National Museum of African Art in Washington DC.

Portugal was the first European nation to build an extensive commercial empire reaching eastward to Africa and Brazil and westward, through the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, to India, China, Japan and Southeast Asia. Contact with these regions, which had been virtually unknown to Europeans, led to the creation of highly original works of art, some intended for export and others for domestic enjoyment. In just one century, Portuguese explorers visited two thirds of a world that had been almost totally unknown to Europeans. They initiated commerce between the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. They pioneered technologies to sail in deep waters, and navigate by the stars. "Were there more lands still to discover they would be there, too," wrote the 16th century Portuguese poet Luís Vaz de Camões.

Among the highlights presented in the exhibition are exotic Kunstkammer objects collected by the Habsburgs, the Medici and other princely families, assembled from collections throughout Europe; rare 16th-century world maps by Portuguese and Florentine cartographers; exquisite ivory hunting horns and saltcellars carved in West and Central Africa for trade with the Portuguese; rare terracotta statues and other religious works from 17th-century Brazil; Indian mother-of-pearl vessels that were given precious silver-gilt mounts when they arrived in Europe in the 16th century; and scientific instruments created for the Imperial Chinese court by early Jesuit missionaries.

The introductory, and largest, section of the exhibition will focus on the impact of the Portuguese discoveries on Europe and the exchange of knowledge with the peoples whom the Portuguese encountered. Many of the items in this section were loaned by some of Portugal's finest museums, including the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, the Museu Etnográfico da Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, the Museu Palácio Nacional de Ajuda and the Museu de Grão Vasco, as well as, private lenders in Portugal and elsewhere. Other sections will focus on the parts of the world the Portuguese reached: West Africa, Brazil, the Indian Ocean, Japan and China.

"Encompassing the Globe" will debut in Washington, D.C., with a major gala June 20, 2007. The Freer Gallery of Art, located at 12th Street and Independence Avenue S.W., and the adjacent Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, located at 1050 Independence Ave. S.W., are on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Freer will houses a major collection of late 19th- and early 20th-century American art. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day and admission is free. The galleries are located near the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines. For more information, the public may call (202) 633-1000 or TTY (202) 357-1729, or visit the exhibitions section of the galleries' Web site: www.asia.si.edu.

Portugal in 1500 had about 1.3 million people. Today, Portuguese is the seventh most spoken language in the world with more than 170,000,000 speakers. Portuguese forts, red tile roofs, music, words, and faces can be found from Africa to India to Malaysia to China.

So, if Portuguese ships changed the world in the 16th and 17th centuries, how did the world change Portugal?

In terms of music, the Fado, the song that defined the people of Portugal for centuries, dates in this period. At this point, the Fado was a poetic song of the court but with the shipwreck, suffering, and loneness of months at sea, it has become a ballad that comforted forlorn sailors. The guitar Portuguesa, called a "banza" by sailors in the 16th century, was always present on voyages of exploration. Its tones soon blended with music from Africa and Brazil. The Cape Verdian Morna, and the Brazilian Samba have tones of the Fado, and have impacted today's Fado.

Some of Portugal's greatest monuments were inspired by, or date to the time of the Exploration. From soaring monasteries and places to vast gun forts and aqueducts.

Today Portugal may be the oldest nation in Europe -- in terms of how long its current borders have been defined -- but it is becoming known for its innovation and creativity. Portugal is home to a thriving culture of fashion, music, food, and art, and the country remains a meeting point for people from around the world. Its new nightclubs are some of the liveliest in Europe and its new bistros blend the pillars of Portuguese food with globally inspired new flavors. Modern designers are bringing bold fashions to the runways, impressive new architecture to blend with the historic ambiance of the cities, and new museums of contemporary art.

More information at www.visitportugal.com

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