From Most to the End of the World

Exoticism Takes Over the Museum.

We invite you to the exhibition

From Most to the End of the World

The opening will take place on October 19, 2024, at 5:30 PM (Saturday – International Archaeology Day)

The exhibition is dedicated to the exotic collections of the Regional Museum and Gallery in Most, originating mainly from the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century. It will showcase interesting museum collection items from almost all continents of the world. From the Far East of Asia to the scorching savanna of South Africa. From the icy tundra of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego to the sun-baked bush of Australia.

The opening of the exhibition will be part of the MDA 2024 program. After the opening, there will be a guided tour with the exhibition curator Jiří Šlajsna starting at 6 PM.

Tip: Among other exotic items from the OMGM collections, three traditional Japanese ningyō dolls will be exhibited. (The traditional Japanese ningyō doll represents a wealthy woman in a rickshaw pulled by a man. This type of doll belongs to a category called odžima ningyō. They are realistic dolls of Japanese women, named after the famous puppet maker Jirozaburo Kodjima.)

This doll from the OMGM sub-collections dates back to the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Japanese ningyō dolls from this period were among the most popular tourist souvenirs, alongside Japanese weapons and lacquered goods. Nowadays, however, due to their cost (even new ones cost between 1500 and 2500 USD each), they practically do not leave Japan. Japanese costume dolls called išimatcu ningyō are not children's toys (although they originally stem from toys), but they play an important role in traditional Japanese Shinto religion. They are a common decoration of household altars, where they represent the souls of deceased ancestors. They also have their own museum - the Nagashibina Doll Museum, located in the town of Mochigase, Tottori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu. In addition to the ritual Shinto nagashibina dolls, you can see up to 1000 other types of all Japanese ningyō dolls here.

Exoticism will also be featured in the exhibit of the month of October at the museum reception, which will showcase a pair of leather, copper-adorned sandals from the Sudan or Ethiopia, likely from the 19th century.

The exhibition will run from October 20, 2024, to January 31, 2025

Text: Jiří Šlajsna, photo: Pavel Krásenský