January, the Holiday season is over, and it is time to get back to life as usual. January is a great time to visit Museums. It is indoor, it is educational or just soothing and most of the museums in Washington are gratis. So get away from the hubble and bubble of it all and into a more tranquil state of mind by letting yourself go through the doors to one of them.

Arthur Sackler Gallery

Tucked away in the beautiful Enid A. Haupt Garden behind the big red Smithsonian Castle are The Museum of African Art and the Arthur Sackler Gallery. The latter is dedicated to Asian art.

Inside, after the security check, pause to take a look at the hallways flower arrangements and the art before walking down via the intricate flight of stairs to the underground where the permanent and contemporary exhibitions are laid out. For the lazy or the disabled there is an elevator that will bring you to the exhibition area. Well down, you may choose to walk through the permanent rather extensive exhibition of Asian art, which started off as a gift from Dr. Arthur Sackler in 1987 but since has grown and now exhibits many more than the original first 1000 pieces of priceless art donated by him. The halls are full of history and beauty for us to enjoy and learn from.

“Garden & Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodphur”

Every now and then Vim Maguire, holds what she calls Cultural Group Tours usually for free. She announces them in Mosaic for those interested to sign up. The latest Tour went to the Sackler Gallery to experience “Garden & Cosmos” a collection of Royal Paintings from Jodphur, India. Member os the Mosaic team joined her, as did 12 others. The exhibition opened the 11th of October. It contains three sections of Indian miniature paintings, many surprisingly big, extremely rich in details and colors, telling stories, which everybody can relate to, like that about power, fighting for it and enjoying having it as well as stories that only the Hindus fully can comprehend, but nevertheless all presented through the paintings in such a manner that it becomes alive and memorable even to the outsider. All the tours arranged by Vim are guided by a docent from the chosen museum. Thus we were helped to find our way through the paintings. She made us aware of the sophisticated painting techniques and surprising details not everyone would have noticed by themselves, as well as pointing out how we by bending and looking at the painting from beneath, would be able to see all the gold and metal in them. The finer and very subtle detail, painted with one hair of a brush, could be studied through magnifying glasses made available to the guests by the Gallery. Most of us listened to the interesting guide or quietly asked the few Indian and Nepalese women among us for further details. It was a very fine morning with food for thoughts and beauty to carry back home. The Vim initiative made me come back to investigate the paintings further a few days later.

If you are on your own you may rent a 5 dollar audio guide. It gives you a very fine introduction to many of the paintings and makes you able to do the tour at your own pace. At the exhibition level you also find a very fine and well-assorted shop, where you can buy all kinds of Asia-related handicrafts as well as books, it’s hard not to buy something. If you have obtained a membership of The Smithsonian Museums you get 10% on all purchases in all the Smithsonian museum stores, and they are worth visiting too. The cheapest membership is 19 dollars a year and can be bought at the red Castle or online.

The “Garden & Cosmos” exhibition will continue to the 4th of January, so ladies and gentlemen, there is still time to get your boots out and hurry there to experience something truly beautiful and at the same time maybe learn something about how power is controlled, used in the gardens and acquired through cosmos. If you are not in the mood right now, then at least keep an eye out for the next Cultural Group Tour and jump to join Vim Maguire. But be aware you could be exposed to something new!

Annemarie Brink Olsen