 The
Kennedy Center for Performing Arts has witnessed a temporary
transformation as it plays host to the "Festival
of China," a month-long presentation of Chinese art
forms.
"This
is more than a performing arts festival. We are keen on
cultivating an in-depth appreciation of Chinese culture
in the American people," Alicia Adams, Kennedy Center's
vice president, explained.
When
visitors arrive at the center's front square, they are
greeted by nine sculptures and installation works created
by artists from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.
In
their works, the artists make use of contemporary idioms
to convey local Chinese traditions. When their works were
moved into the Kennedy Center, a fresh landscape, they
established a cultural dialogue between the simplistically
styled architecture of the Kennedy Center and visual arts
from the East.
Meanwhile,
these new works create a special Chinese atmosphere for
the Festival of China.
"Together
with the title 'Transferred Landscape,' the series of
works are a microcosm of the general character of contemporary
Chinese arts, which try to minimize the disruption of
modern civilization and traditional culture, and contain
a reminiscent mood of the fading of a lifestyle as well,"
says Fan Di'an, vice president of China Central Academy
of Fine Arts.
In
addition to the works, a variety of open air activities
are also being held at the center, such as a folk-customs
exposition, kite-flying, and a Chinese market where people
can buy Chinese seals, kites, pinwheels and Chinese knots.
Chinese
designer Tim Yip's monumental banners like huge red paper-cuttings
cover the center's facade on the Potomac, along with intricate
lanterns that adorn the lobby areas.
Yip,
the Oscar-winning art director on the movie Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has also decorated the inside of
the center.
In
the lobby, 60 photographs showing Beijing as an ancient
yet vital new metropolis are featured, many showing the
preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The
Terrace and North galleries, where "The New China
Chic" exhibition and "The Terra Cotta Warriors
and Horses" are on show, have been linked by 400
Chinese red knots.
French
designer Adrien Gardere received the commission to create
the layout for the two exhibitions in March.
Having
been to China twice, Gardere was impressed by Chinese
red knots, which inspired him to use this special symbol
to bridge the two very different exhibitions -- one soft,
feminine, modern and derived from Western fashion, while
the other hard, masculine, old and truly ancient Chinese
art.
"I
consider the two rooms as one space and the whole thing
as a metaphor for threads and knots. With them, I weave
and knit the past and present, East and West," he
said.
One
more special room is the former Bird Room, a VIP lounge
of the Eisenhower Theatre. Last Friday, it was renamed
the Chinese Lounge and received a gift from China's Ministry
of Culture.
Commissioned
by the Ministry of Culture, artist Sun Jingbo from the
China Central Academy of Fine Arts created two murals
for the new Chinese Room.
One
is an acrylic-painted mural "Verve of China"
featuring flying female nature spirits and the other is
a lacquer mural based on the works of ancient Chinese
calligrapher Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Preface."
(China Daily October 6, 2005
|