A journey through history and across waters

"Our main goal is to make this collection accessible to the community. We decided to contextualize it using fragments of Chinese porcelain found in excavations conducted in… Esteco I," says Gunther, referring to an Argentine historical site. "This allowed us to link the pieces to local history and provide a perspective on the early exchanges between Americas and China."

The exhibition, which includes pieces from a private collection, as well as recently excavated archaeological finds, opened in late November and will run through March 2025. It includes rare porcelain pieces, such as some believed to be from Emperor Qianlong's era in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and archaeological fragments dug up from the fabled Argentine colonial city known as Esteco, which was obliterated in an earthquake in 1962.

The exhibition is the result of a wide-reaching collaboration backed by Chinese and Argentine institutions, including the Chinese embassy in Argentina, an Argentina-China studies center, the Museum Anthropology in Salta (which led the dig in Esteco), provincial cultural authorities and local municipal governments.

It underscores the long-standing interest in Chinese culture and its deep historical links with the region, and features a variety of pieces, including representative samples of Imari porcelain and pieces from the "Rose" and "Green" porcelain families — so named for the colors used to glaze them — highlighting centuries of artistic evolution.

"It has been an enriching experience, especially because it allows us to connect our historical past with current generations," says Gunther. "It's a diverse collection, but we lack precise chronology or detailed information about its provenance.

"Some pieces have labels with seals that seem to correspond to the reign of Emperor Qianlong, between the years 1735 and 1795.There are also a couple of bowls with similar characteristics," says Gunther.