Now that I mention The Feuerle Collection in Berlin, I would also like to draw attention to the remarkable aesthetic and intellectual tension evoked there. It is a tension born from an unexpected and striking combination of elements. Sculptures and artworks that seem to engage in a kind of silent conversation\u2014with one another, and with the space itself.<\/span><\/p>\n In the first large hall of the bunker stand ancient Khmer sculptures, sensuous in presence. The statues display the characteristic enigmatic Khmer smile: a broad mouth, strangely curved; torsos only summarily shaped; skin that\u2014so to speak\u2014lies bare. Carefully preserved. They radiate a certain freshness and fill the somber concrete space of the former bunker with monumental pride. The exhibition presents Eastern culture as sensitive, sensual, and refined. Even the ceremonial incense, though not listed in the program, fits that image. In the second hall we see Chinese lacquered furniture\u2014traditional, delicate works of craftsmanship\u2014confronted here with several modern pieces of Asian origin, such as the somewhat distorted photographs of a Japanese female photographer.<\/span><\/p>\n