The Central Archaeological Council of Greece has agreed to loan 147 artefacts from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens to be hosted at the National Museum of Western Art (NMWA) in Tokyo and two other venues in Japan.
The temporary exhibition, entitled ‘The Golden Legend’, focuses on gold works of art of ancient Mediterranean civilisations, and will be displaying a total of 225 exhibits from participating museums in Austria, Italy, France, Spain, UK and Greece.
The artefacts, as living objects of witness, tell the story of how the art related to gold originated and developed from the prehistoric period until the late antiquity among the civilisations of Pontus region and the Mediterranean sea.
Golden jewellery such as necklaces, rings, buckles, earrings as well as tools are among the artefacts to be shown.
Apart from the NMWA, ‘The Golden Legend’ exhibition will also travel to the Miyagi Museum of Art in Sendai and the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Nagoya and will run from 16 October 2015 to 29 May 2016.
According to reports, the Central Archaeological Council of Greece is in discussions with the NMWA for a collaboration which can possibly bring Japanese artefacts to the Museum of Asian Art at Corfu.