Word: opium
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Hall of Opium uses a multimedia approach to trace the history of opium from highly valued ingredient in the pharmacopoeia of the ancients to the scourge of addiction that brought China to its knees in the 19th and 20th centuries. There is a re-creation of a British East India Company clipper ship's hold and its cargo of opium from India destined for the South China coast and a reproduction of a typical 19th century opium den, where a visitor can take himself through the opium smoker's paces (sans opium, of course). Patrons, according to this life-size...
...Atypically for museums in the region, the Hall of Opium is much more than a collection of dusty artifacts bearing labels. Interiors at the museum complement the subject matter so as to profoundly affect visitors' moods. The entrance to the museum is through a long, winding tunnel, which is illuminated to show off twisted and tortured human forms sculpted into its walls. Other rooms are bright, airy contemplative spaces. The result is an informative and innovative look at an age-old social ill. What can Thailand do to top it? A museum of the world's oldest profession...
...eradication of opium smoking in the mid-20th century, antique opium pipes, lamps and the sundry trappings that surrounded the habit in China and Southeast Asia are now quite rare. Only since the early 1990s has more-lax enforcement of laws in China allowed these treasures to be traded as antiques...
...Bangkok has become a magnet for antiquities from all over Asia, where the knowledgeable shopper can find anything from genuine Burmese images of the Buddha to Tibetan monastic furniture. Of course, there are also plenty of cleverly forged fakes so, as in most Asian antiquities markets, caveat emptor. With opium habiliments, shop owners don't always deceive their customers on purpose. Many are clueless as to what is real and what is a reproduction. For instance, if an "opium pipe" has a bowl made from wood or resin or anything else that's flammable, chances are it's a very...
...Many countries still have laws forbidding the importation of opium pipes, though the briskness of the trade in antique opium pipes suggests those laws aren't being rigidly enforced. Opium lamps, however, are far more likely to clear customs. They are smaller than oil lamps used for lighting, and an opium lamp never has a mechanical wheel to advance the wick?this was done by hand with a pair of tweezers. It is unusual to find an opium lamp that has its original glass funnel intact. Most have been fitted with replacements made from tea glasses or even liquor bottles...