2011 – Jan : AAA visit to the Exhibition at the Islamic and Mediterranean Centre in Silves
A group of members and guests went to the Islamic and Mediterranean Centre in Silves to see an exhibition based around the Islamic finds recovered from excavations in the Algarve (Silves in particular).
The building in which the Centre is housed has in the past served as a slaughterhouse and a school but has in recent years been sympathetically restored and decorated in the Moorish style.
On display were examples of the everyday items used and discarded by those who occupied the region during the Islamic period, from ceramics to metal items, glassware and funerary monuments. Pride of place was given to the Tavira ‘vase’ – a clay vessel of intriguing design – in that water was poured into the vessel through the model of a small tower shaped opening, the water then went round the hollow rim and out into the vase itself via small spouts modelled in the shapes of animals. The exhibition also included information panels about the Moorish occupation.
The Centre is also used by local schools as a study facility and there were examples of the children’s’ work on display. It was a very interesting exhibition.
