Reposted from Somersetlive
The Museum of East Asian Art's 25th anniversary celebrations are back on track after 'priceless' artefacts were stolen by masked thieves. The Bath museum was shut for more than two weeks after the break-in and is now due to reopen on Thursday (May 3).
Police have yet to make an arrest in connection with the heist, which saw 'beautiful pieces with historical and cultural value' stolen. The crime, believed to have been planned, was even more devastating due to it coinciding with the Bennett Street museum's quarter centennary.
However, celebrations can now go ahead with the opening of A Quest for Wellness, the first UK exhibition by the artist Zhang Yanzi of Hong Kong-based Galerie Ora-Ora, at the museum in Bennett Street.
Wellness as a theme will tie in with Bath's origins as a Roman spa town, organisers said: "In this exhibition, the artist explores common frailties and shared humanity, investigating the nature and meaning of wellness in China: its history, and its modern counterpoints from a Chinese perspective."
Works on display will include:
- Excess, a silk robe covered in pill capsules which portrays pills as a kind of physical and psychological armor in the modern world
- Inhalation, a Chinese painting on analgesic plasters that explores the ability of beautiful objects to provide humans psychological comfort
- and Pure Land, an ink painting of Buddha’s portrait in the ancient Chinese Buddhist mural style that alludes to the concept of well-being from a spiritual angle.