Richard And Jo Demeester's photos with the keyword: museum

With one of the world's largest collections of mosaics, the Bardo struggles to find space to display the wondrous pieces. There is a combination of thematic presentation, and a general chronological progression as one wanders through (assuming one starts at the beginning, which Jo tends to do), In the end, there are some examples so significant and so large, that presentation space has obviously been specifically designed and modified to hold it.

A 4th or 5th century baptismal, beautifully lined with mosaic tiles, pictures, patterns, and inscriptions. Bardo Museum in Tunis.

The Savitsky Collection, from what I gather, contains more than 80,000 artworks, most banned or frowned upon during the Soviet times. Especially during Stalin's time at the helm of the USSR, the only acceptable art form was "socialist realism" - art which showed communism in a positive way, showed ideal citizens living and working for the common good, and always showed an optimistic present and future. Strength, health, work, and benefits should be features of the art. In a little corner of the Union, in the desert of current Karakalpakstan Repubilc (ostensibly part of Uzbekistan), Savitsky gathered together his substantial collection of controversial art. Creators of these works were likely to suffer persecution and anonymity for their efforts. Far from the watchful eye of Moscow, and with good rapport with the local community, he even got support to create spaces to exhibit these works, which were taboo in the rest of the USSR. It is now considered one of the great collections of works from Soviet artists, most who may have remained anonymous had Savitsky not gathered and protected them.

An item in the collection - Museum of Applied Arts, Tashkent.

The small museum is contained in a handful of small buildings on the grounds of this house. The building itself is a true item of the collection.

The statues in the Hall of Gods is magnificently presented and were a highlight of the Antalya museum.

This beautiful section of a mosaic was nicknamed Gypsy Girl because of her hair and earrings. The eyes are the sort which follow you around the room, although they seemed to follow Jo more than me. The rest of the mosaic was stolen from the original location, but this section was missed by the thieves, and it is considered a masterpiece of mosaic art.

This beautiful marble sarcophagus is the prize of the Hatay Archaeology Museum. Incredibly ornate and detailed, with very little damage, it was found with the remains of two adults and a young female, and with a small amount of jewellery and a handful of coins.

Some of the mosaics we are encountering in this part of Turkey are so superb that they look like tapestries. This mosaic was in the bottom of a shallow pool in a Roman house. It was relocated to this museum in Gaziantep when the site where it was found was flooded by the waters of a new dam, about 20 years ago.

A vertical panorama inside the former Church of the Divine Wisdom, now the Aya Sofya Museum, in Trabzon, showing the floor mosaic work as well as the light and spacious dome.

Some potters had a lot of fun. This pot is holding his belly and poking his tongue out.

Large statues found on the ritual island of Zapatera in Lake Nicaragua, now on display in the museum of San Francisco.