SALEM, MASS. - The Peabody Essex Museum has devoted two years of intensive planning and expertise and the best of its resources to a new exhibition opening October 16. "Odyssey: A Journey into World Art" is a cultural circumnavigation traversing time and territory, and making connections that span the world and cut across cultural bounds.

The exhibition, which will run through the fall of 2001, acknowledges the journey the Peabody Essex Museum has made in its own 200-year adventure. More than an exhibition, "Odyssey" is also an interactive multi-media experience. It presents over 300 objects of art, architecture and culture designed to take visitors on a voyage through people, landscapes, and the natural and spiritual worlds.

"We want to push the boundaries," says Paula Richter, co-curator for the exhibition. "There are objects in `Odyssey' that people will be comfortable with, juxtaposed with those that are less familiar. We hope that visitors will make connections they have never made before."

"Odyssey: A Journey into World Art" is an exhibition with a purpose: it serves to inspire visitors to create connections among diverse works of art. In fact, much of the brainstorming which took place in the preparation of "Odyssey" was simply making connections.

"The museum staff approached the idea of the exhibition by looking at 100 to 200 objects and making visual connections. The large number of objects seemed to automatically break down into smaller categories, such as portraits, landscapes, or treasure chests. The idea for an `Odyssey' or a journey, was linked to the visual connections drawn from the objects. The exhibition then became a metaphor for the museum," recalls Ms Richter.

The exhibition recreates the spirit of the Peabody Essex Museum's founders - a group of seafaring entrepreneurs who forged new international trade routes and established ties with cultures around the globe. In 1799, a number of traders met to found a museum with the purpose of exhibiting objects acquired from voyages to China, Japan, the South Pacific, Africa and India.

"These entrepreneurs went to different parts of the world to engage in trade. They came back changed from their experiences, from looking at the world and those people they traded with," says John Grimes, deputy director for special projects and exhibition co-curator. "Odyssey" combines works by well-known American masters such as John James Audubon, John Singleton Copley, Fitz Hugh Lane, and John Singer Sargent, along with scores of other from India, China, Japan, Zaire, and other countries into themes such as "Encountering People," "Encountering Places," and "Encountering the Spiritual," and "Conversations About Art."

One example of how "Odyssey" presents contrasting works of art within a specific theme is the grouping of art portraying the ideal non-traditional family. John Singleton Copley's 1765 portrait "Sarah Erving Waldo" is juxtaposed with a late Nineteenth Century Japanese iron mask and a contemporary photograph by Mexican photographer Graciele Iturbide. These works collectively illustrate man, woman and child from diverse worlds and times. Sarah Erving Waldo's clothing, posture and setting are carefully crafted to radiate affluence and status. The iron mask from Japan, with its distinctly bold and masculine pointed nose, is designed to disguise the warrior's identity and give him an aggressive and taunting character. And finally, the young girl photographed by Iturbide wears an angel costume which heightens the portrayal of innocence and evokes childhood joy.

Other works in this section include a portrait statue of an Indian Merchant Ghose; an Ashanti female fertility doll; a portrait of Jane Shattuck by American Impressionist artist Frank Weston Benson; an 1833 portrait of "Harriet Low," by British artist George Chinnery; a contemporary "Portrait with Circle Cloth" (1999) by Jane Smaldone; and an 1870 charcoal self-portrait of J. Worthington Mansfield (1849-1933).

Another group of objects presents startling visions of death, ancestry, and immortality. One section includes famed maritime artist Michele Felice Corne's 1807 "Death of William," and two early Nineteenth Century works of art - "Apotheosis of Captain Cook" and "Apotheosis of Washington." Nearby sits an early Nineteenth Century death mask crafted to preserve the face of a New England woman whose identity is now lost. Lastly, there are the hollow eyes of an ancient Japanese tomb guardian figure who once stood watch over a noble's grave.

In "Encountering Places," landscapes such as a circa 1725 Ecclestone Chinese lacquer screen invite the visitor to question messages within the presentation of the art. In this case, the screen was made for a Westerner, and intended to provide a glimpse of a beautiful Chinese landscape and the orderly silk production. Comprising twelve panels, the large screen brings the outdoors indoors. However, the screen is dominated by the owner's coat of arms, and suggests possession, not only of the screen, but of the landscape itself. Juxtaposed next to the screen is documentary film footage of a 1929 voyage up the Sepic River, which captures scenes of Americans in an unfamiliar landscape, as well as the first encounters with people living on this river in Papua, New Guinea.

Other works of art that are presented to expand the definition of landscape include "Salem Common on Training Day," by American folk artist George Ropes. Also displayed is a stick chart from the Marshall Islands of Micronesia, which was used to record sea currents and swell patterns. In its role as a navigational aide, the chart represents a highly personal relationship with the waters and landscape. A highlight of "Encountering Places" is a Chinese desk in solid ivory, which dates from 1773-1800. Although the sides of the drawers and mirror are made of zitan wood, the solid ivory legs and surface of this English-style desk feature intricately-carved Chinese landscape scenes of people, boats, clouds, and mountains. Video projections of details enhance the visitors' experience of viewing the meticulous artwork.

A sub-section of "Encountering Places" is "Encountering the Living World," which includes objects such as a 1926 Art Deco dress worn by Mrs Sanford (Elizabeth) S. Clark of Manchester. Constructed of silk, gold lame and glass beading, the dress was made by the couturiere Jenny of Paris. A group of netsuke, and several John James Audubon prints also join together to communicate "how artists interpreted and utilized elements of the living world as part of their artistic expression," according to Ms Richter.

Yet another section, "Encountering the Spiritual," takes visitors face to face with powerful spiritual art. the giant Hawaiian war god, Kuka'ilimoku, stands near a pocket-sized Japanese Bodhitsattva from the Fourteenth Century. the rock crystal "Christ Child as Savior of the World," from Sixteenth or Seventeenth Century India or Sri Lanka, is adorned with rubies and sapphires to please the wealthy European customers who sought images of their Lord from the East. The final component of the section presents the vibrant colors of contemporary Hopi painter Dan Lomahaftewa's works, which convey the energy and power of humankind's journey between spiritual worlds. Not all sections of the exhibition present thematic and deliberate groupings of objects.

In fact, according to Paula Richter, "The museum has created several interesting groups of objects that convey a message. However, the rest of the objects are meant for visits to explore on their own and make their own connections."

The final section of "Odyssey" - "Conversations About Art" - provides audio comments in response to works of art including "The Gossips" by Frederic Remington and "Twilight on the Kennebec" by Fitz Hugh Lane. The section culminates with Josh Simpson's "Mega Megaplanet," a contemporary glass sculpture. The conversation surrounding this work focuses on how art can engage individuals in the exhibition's final question "Can you see your world differently?"

Peabody Essex has refurbished its East India Marine Hall, a National Historic Landmark, and redesigned two other major galleries for "Odyssey." Within the galleries, an audio tour includes dramatic narrative, sounds, and music to accompany the objects. Computer kiosks offer additional information about the works, and visitors can create their own portraits by digital video camera. The museum will hold a series of related programs together with "Odyssey" and the museum's bicentennial, including the Parker Lecture Series with author and historian David McCullough and maritime explorer Robert Ballard.

The museum will fly up to ten adventure seekers to points around the globe in the spring of 2000 in search for works of art and culture to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurs who founded the museum as the East India Marine Society in 1799. The Peabody Essex Museum is one of New England's largest museums, with renowned collections of maritime art and history; American decorative art, folk art, portraits, costumes, and furniture; Native American art; and art from China, Japan, Korea, India, and the Pacific Islands. It also displays one of the world's largest and most important collections of Asian decorative arts produced for the West.

These collections are set amid one of the nation's premier ensembles of early American architecture. The museum owns four National Historic Landmarks, three of which are houses open for daily tours. The Phillips Library is a premier research and rare book library, and documents more than three centuries of American life. Hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 am to 5 pm; and Thursday 1 to 8 pm. Located at East India Square, the Peabody Essex Museum offers visitors four centuries of world exploration, along with the artistic and architectural riches it yielded. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday, and 9 am to 6 pm on weekends. Telephone, 800/745-4054.