The Elite & Popular Culture of Old China
San Diego Chinese Historical Museum
San Diego, California
Opened 31 July 2010

For thousands of years, the Chinese people have been divided into a majority of common farmers (including a few craftsmen and merchants) and an elite minority of scholars serving as government officials. Starting in the Han period, examinations allowed exceptional commoners to elevate their families into the ranks of the elite, but farmers’ sons rarely had the time to memorize the Confucian canon, learn literary style and perfect the highest art of calligraphy that was thought to reveal a person’s character. While scholars studied classic literature, they also enjoyed common folk stories brought to life by common Chinese opera actors with elaborate makeup, colorful costumes, and symbolic gestures. Both classes used utensils handmade from similar materials; scholars’ tools cultivated the mind, while farmers’ cultivated the soil, but each activity was an integral part of shaping and maintaining the Chinese culture that has endured into the present.

Shanghai
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Until 5 September 2010

Timed to coincide with the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 (and a city-wide Shanghai Celebration in San Francisco, its sister city), this is the first exhibition to explore China’s most cosmopolitan city. A case study in cultural globalization, the exhibition traces factors behind the city’s distinctive character.
 
It features 128 oil paintings, Shanghai Deco furniture and rugs, revolutionary posters, works of fashion, movie clips and contemporary installations. The artworks, drawn mainly from the collections of the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai Art Museum, the Shanghai City History Museum, and the Lu Xun Museum, include the most significant visual documents of the city’s rich and ever-changing culture.

The exhibition is divided into four sections: Beginnings (1850-1912) traces Shanghai from its modest start to its rise to prominence after its designation as a `Treaty Port’ by Britain and China in the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing. Trade oil paintings, Shanghai school paintings and a series of lithographs present the city as the international economic hub that it had become in a relatively short time. High Times (1912-37) represents the golden era of Shanghai, when the city was at its historic commercial and cultural height. Ink and oil paintings, posters, qipao, film clips and Shanghai deco furniture together capture the launching of a public romance with the city that continues today.

Revolution (1920-76) highlights a collection of propaganda posters that document the changing landscape of Shanghai as it embraced the call for industrialization during China’s new race toward modernization. Other artworks in this section include woodblock prints and ink and oil paintings.

Shanghai Today (1980-present) presents the visual culture that is emerging as the city reclaims its role as a leading centre of global trade and finance. Photographs, prints, paintings and installation art illustrate the face of this contemporary cosmopolis.

(See articles Michael Knight, Dany Chan, and Nancy Berliner and interview with Jay Xu in Orientations, January/February 2010 issue.) 

Modern Twist: Bamboo Works from the Clark Center and the Art of Motoko Maio
Crow Collection of Asian Art
Dallas, Texas
Until 5 September 2010 

To explore the intersection of tradition, innovation and design this exhibition pairs the traditional arts of basket making and screen making- the first a selection of works form the Clark Center in Hanford, California, and the second the exquisite work of artist Motoko Maio. Some of the twenty bamboo baskets from the mid-1940s to 2008, with a strong emphasis on works from the 21st century,  have never been exhibited before, such as the new `Composition through lines’ series by visionary artist Uematsu Chikyu, in which he experiments with forms that have openings that appear unfinished.

Using traditional techniques and materials in dramatically innovative ways, as well as playing with form, Maio pays reverence to this stately art of the Japanese screen while totally transforming it and placing it securely in a 21st-century social and artistic context.

Empire’s Borders II – Western Enterprises Inc - Chen Chieh-jen
Roy and Edna Disney/Calarts Theatre
Los Angeles, California
Until 5 September 2010
Chinese Arts Centre
Manchester
2 October – 20 November 2010 

Chen Chieh-jen’s powerful and haunting body of films examines the history of Taiwan within the larger context of globalization. In this exhibition, Chen presents a newly commissioned work entitled Empire’s Borders II – Western Enterprises, Inc. Inspired by his own difficulties in acquiring a visa to enter the US, this multimedia video installation explores ideas of borders and boundaries within a shifting geopolitical landscape while also reflecting on the history of Taiwan-U.S. relations.

Empire’s Borders II – Western Enterprises, Inc. takes its cues from the political context of the 1950s Cold War when U.S. interests in Taiwan overlapped with the Chinese civil war. Cooperating with the Taiwanese Nationalist government, the American CIA established what was called Western Enterprises – agents responsible for training an Anti-Communist National Salvation Army (NSA) for a surprise attack on communists in Mainland China. The three-channel film installation begins here and weaves the biography of the artist’s father, a member of NSA, who upon his passing left an autobiography, a list of NSA soldiers killed during the China offensive, an empty photo album and an old army uniform. Through Chen’s characteristically charged re-enactments, the figures in the film encounter the ghosts of history and move through the vacuous spaces of struggle, absence and erasure, which echo present-day realities. 

Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York
Until 6 September 2010

Much of contemporary photography and video seems haunted by the past, by the history of art, by apparitions that are reanimated in reproductive mediums, live performance and the virtual world. By using dated, passé or quasi-extinct stylistic devices, subject matter and technologies, such art embodies a longing for an otherwise unrecuperable past. This exhibition examines myriad ways photographic imagery is incorporated into recent practice. Drawn largely from the Guggenheim’s extensive photography and video collections, it features some 100 works by nearly 60 artists include Hiroshi Sugimioto.  The works range from individual photographs and photographic series to sculptures and paintings that incorporate photographic elements; projected videos; films; performances; and site-specific installations. While the show traces the extensive incorporation of photography into contemporary art since the 1960s, a significant part of the exhibition will be dedicated to work created since 2001 by younger artists.
 

Bardo
Rubin Museum of Art
New York
Until 6 September 2010

This exhibition presents works of art that have been used for centuries in Vajrayana Buddhism to remind practitioners of their mortality and to prepare the initiate for death. Scheduled to be shown concurrently with `Remember You Will Die', an exhibition exploring contrasting world perspectives on death, heaven and hell as they are represented in various religious cultures, `Bardo' will take up the notion of death as revelatory act, which is a distinguishing characteristic of this Tibetan religion.

60 to 70 works including paintings, sculptures and videos will be shown as examples of meditation tools used by practitioners to contemplate their imminent confrontation with these deities upon death. They will be arranged as a Buddhist temple with two side chapels, one for peaceful, the other for wrathful gods. In addition, instruments will be shown that are used in the death ritual, including traditional books with illustrations. Images of the deities will be represented in thankgas, sculptures and two three-dimensional mandalas that display the interior and exterior parts of the palace in which these deities are believed to. 

Presence and Remembrance: The Art of Toshiko Takaezu
Princeton University Art Museum
Princeton, New Jersey
Until 11 September 2010

Centered upon an image of the Remembrance bell erected on Princeton’s campus in memory of the 13 alumni who tragically lost their lives on 11 September 2001, this exhibition features new gifts from the artist as well as older favorites from the Museum's and University's collections, highlighting one of the great ceramic artists of the 20th century. Contemporary artist Toshiko Takaezu’s ceramics have many unique attributes. She is perhaps best known for closing the vessel form to render it useless as a functional object, transforming into solely an aesthetic sculpture. In this seemingly simple act, Takaezu’s pieces gain presence and resonates sound that lingers into memory. 

Chaotic Harmony: Contemporary Korean Photography
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Santa Barbara, California
Until 19 September 2010

An exhibition, presenting photographs by 40 artists born between 1965 and 1984 and representing two distinct generations, reveals the extraordinary work being created in South Korea, as well as a shifting sense of the Korean identity as expressed by artists who have witnessed the monumental cultural and social changes in their country over the past 45 years. It opens a window into the rapidly expanding field of photographic practice in South Korea and surveys the range of contemporary issues through the themes of family, urbanization, globalization, identity, and nature. Although issues of cultural and personal identity are strong components, it is rather an attempt to identify Korea as a source of complex and stimulating visual ideas expressed through the medium of photography. The show offers an enticing glimpse into the new century as it is perceived by two different generations of Korean artists - those who began exhibiting their work in the 1980s and 1990s, and those who are now exhibiting images from their first or second series of photographs. 

New Vision: Ballpoint Drawings by Il Lee
Crow Collection of Asian Art
Dallas, Texas
Until 26 September 2010 

Il Lee is a New York artist who for over 30 years has been exploring contemporary possibilities in drawing and painting in his chosen medium of ball point pen. In recent years his massing of looping, energetic lines have given way to more angular, more interrupted even more urgent, styles of mark making. In exploring the language of modernism Lee has moved through minimalistic representation of line and form to a more abstracted language of kinetics. His progression is far from a retooling of modernist approaches and much more an exploration of timeless and contemporary concerns from within his own highly developed practice.

Plain Beauty: White Porcelain of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and the `Vessel’ Series by Bohnchang Koo
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia
Until 26 September 2010

Actively produced in Korea beginning in the fifteenth century, white porcelain reflected the ideals and taste of the newly established Joseon dynasty. The production of these wares continued throughout the early twentieth century, yielding vessels of diverse functions, sizes and shapes. In China, potters replaced the earlier fashion for plain white wares with lavishly decorated porcelains with flamboyant, multicoloured patterns; as a result, pure white wares remained a uniquely Korean phenomenon. This exhibition explores the simple yet elegant beauty of plain white Korean porcelain with objects drawn from the museum’s collections and loans from other collections in the US; these objects range from a small water dropper to an imposing globular ‘moon jar’.

The porcelains are complemented by Korean photographer Bohnchang Koo’s large-scale images, which capture the subtle beauty of undecorated white porcelains. To create his `Vessel’ series, Koo visited museums both within and outside Korea to photograph the white Joseon wares in their collections. The resulting photographs are almost portrait-like, often featuring off-centre compositions, sectional details and subtle pink tones.  

Snuff Bottles from the Hippo Collection
Crow Collection of Asian Art
Dallas, Texas
Until 26 September 2010 

A vibrant selection of snuff bottles from the Hippo Collection now complements the museum’s own holdings with new styles of design and workmanship from the seemingly endless repertory of the art form. 
 

Arts of Bengal: Wives, Mothers, Goddesses
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia
Until September 2010

Bengal is a lush region of lotus pools, fish-filled rivers and tiger-haunted forests punctuated by rice and banana fields, rural villages and teeming cities. The domestic arts made by and for Bengali women during the 19th and 20th centuries include intricate embroidered quilts called kanthas, vibrant ritual paintings and fish-shaped caskets and other implements created in resin-thread technique. Drawn from a common pool of motifs and ideas that reflect the unique environment of the region, these creations provide a rare view into women’s everyday lives and thoughts.

Other arts, such as elaborate painted narrative scrolls and souvenir paintings from Kalighat near Calcutta, illustrate women’s many roles, both domestic and divine. Representations of the great goddess Durga as beloved daughter, devoted wife, adoring mother, fierce warrior and heroic victor epitomize the complex nature of female divinity - and of women themselves - in the stories and culture of Bengal.

Arts of Bengal: Town, Temple, Mosque
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia
Until September 2010 

The cities and towns of Bengal have long functioned as hubs of commerce, religious activity and the arts where professional painters, potters, weavers and sculptors catered to diverse audiences. Through works from the museum’s collections, this exhibition explores the rich texture of the `sacred’ and the `mundane’ in Bengal’s cities from the 18th to mid-20th centuries. Under British colonial rule, the products of artists in Calcutta, Murshidabad, Dacca and Patna included sumptuously decorated silverware, silk saris brocaded with images of urban pleasures, colourful paintings of religious processions and even detailed botanical studies made for European patrons. Temples and mosques were also centers of artistic creativity. Many enshrined sacred images that were beautifully carved and garbed, while the façades were often decorated with intricately molded terracotta bricks. Some also provided venues for artists to sell souvenir paintings of deities and even scenes satirizing the dissipations of city life. In the early to mid-20th century, Bengal’s towns, temples and mosques continued to serve as potent sources of inspiration for artist-intellectuals such as Jamini Roy, Mukul Dey and Nandalal Bose who sought to create a modern aesthetic.

The Two Qalams: Islamic Arts of Pen and Brush
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia
Until September 2010

As seen in the 16th to 19th century album pages on view in the exhibition, the arts of pen and brush often merged with exquisite results. A highlight from this group is a never-before-exhibited Mughal tinted drawing of circa 1600, which, in its subject matter and emphasis upon bold outlines and graceful line effects, shows the influence of both European prints and Islamic calligraphy. 

A Conversation with Chicago: Contemporary Sculptures from China
Millennium Park
Chicago
Until 3 October 2010 

In recent years, contemporary Chinese art has emerged from a domestic avant-garde movement into one of the fastest growing and most dynamic components of the international art scene. Representing the current stage of contemporary Chinese art, the four large sculptures, never before seen in the US, brought the global conversation into one of Chicago’s most popular public spaces. 

Coming from different regions and educational backgrounds, the artists use varied materials and visual styles, but show commonalities as well. Each work is intensely engaged with important contemporary issues such as the energy crisis, materialism and globalization. They also share inspiration from traditional Chinese art, commercial culture, folk art and industrial machinery as they explore ways to react to a public space.

Shen Shaomin’s Kowtow Pump is presented in Millennium Park’s North Gallery, while the South Gallery feature works Valiant Struggle No. 11 by Chen Wenling, Windy City Dinosaur by Sui Jianguo, and Jia Shan Shi No. 46 by Zhan Wang. The exhibition is curated by Wu Hung, University of Chicago Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor of Art History and a Consulting Curator for the Smart Museum of Art, and by Millennium Park staff.

Arthur Pope and a New Survey of Persian Art
The Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Until 3 October 2010

This exhibition highlights this historically important collection of Persian art, which was developed under the guidance of Arthur Upham Pope (1881–1969). A noted American art historian, Pope was a pioneer in the study of Persian art, heritage and culture, as well as an energetic collector, curator and art dealer. The exhibition will feature a variety of media, including ceramics, tilework, textiles, paintings, glasswork and lacquerware from the Art Institute’s permanent collection. It will also examine Pope’s legacy by tracing the development of Persian art collections in Chicago during the early 20th century as well as his influence on the understanding and appreciation of traditional Persian art across the globe. This exhibition will also help today’s audience to understand modern Persian art by looking at it through the lens of Pope and his generation.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Art Institute of Chicago will host an international symposium in September 2010. This symposium will provide a forum for a roster of international scholars of Persian art to reconsider the life and achievements of Arthur Upham Pope.

Epic India: Scenes from the Ramayana
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York
Until 3 October 2010 

Among the themes most favored for Indian miniature painting are episodes from the great Indian epic the Ramayama. This classic of early Indian literature is infused with mythology and the legendary exploits of the gods, but above all tells the story of Lord Vishnu in his earthly appearance as Rama, a divine-king revered as the embodiment of nobility and virtue. The mythology of Rama provides the subject matter for an important genre of Indian paintings, and a selection of such works will be exhibited here, along with sculptures and a newly acquired spectacular painted cotton textile depicting a scene from the epic.

This show presents works form the museum’s collection exploring the connection of Japan and the West. The Meiji period is perhaps the most dynamic era in Japanese cultural history with the Japanese artists rediscovering their own history in conjunction with `opening’ the country to Europe and America. The rich production of art for export, using little seen objects from the Museum’s collection, are explored to illustrate new developments in painting, metalwork, sculpture, textiles and ceramics.

A Conversation with Chicago: Contemporary Sculptures from China
Millennium Park
Chicago
Until 10 October 2010

The piece by Shen Shaomin will be presented in Millennium’s North Gallery, while the South Gallery will feature works by Chen Wenling, Sui Jianguo and Zhan Wang. An exhibition of four large-scale sculptures by four leading Chinese sculptors and installation artists- Sui Jianguo, Zhan Wang, Shen Shaomin and Chen Wenling.

Coming from different regions and educational backgrounds, the artists each employ different materials and visual styles, but they also show commonalities. Each work is intensely engaged with important contemporary issues such as the energy crisis, materialism and globalization. They also share inspiration from traditional Chinese art, commercial culture, folk art and industrial machinery as they explore ways to react to a public space. 

As It Happened: Works by Sanit Khewhok, the Catharine E.B. Cox Award Exhibition
Honolulu Academy of Arts
Honolulu, Hawaii
Until 10 October 2010

The exhibition is an overview of Khewhok’s career, with paintings and sculptures spanning 38 years from 1972 to 2010. Khewhok is known for his small-scale works that invite viewers to engage with them on a personal level. His often humorous, sharp-witted work references his personal experiences and inner circle as well. The exhibition embodies Khewhok’s past and present and invites viewers to witness his evolution as an artist. His work eloquently synthesizes the various cultures and traditions he has straddled so far in life.

The Elegant Image: Hindu, Buddhist and Jain Bronzes from the Bhansali Collection
New Orleans Museum of Art
New Orleans, Louisiana
Until 16 October 2010
 

Tradition Transformed: Tibetan Artists Respond
Rubin Museum of Art
New York
Until 18 October 2010 

The first exhibition of contemporary Tibetan art presented in a New York City museum features nine artists who grapple with issues of cultural and artistic negotiation and who work with traditional forms in innovative ways. Technology, travel, displacement and personal artistic freedom have informed their individual responses to the complex interaction between tradition and modernity in both art and culture. The artists - Dedron, Gonkar Gyatso, Losang Gyatso, Kesang Lamdark, Tenzin Norbu, Tenzing Rigdol, Pema Rinzin, Tsherin Sherpa and Penba Wangdu - were invited to submit new and recent works. Specific works by the same artists were then selected from private collections to complement these new pieces and highlight each artist’s range.

Many of their works consistently juxtapose and merge the sacred with the profane. The large Buddha in Gonkar Gyatso’s L.A. Confidential (2007), is filled with tiny, disarmingly colourful stickers. Dedron says that her work is not a response to politics, but rather a means for raising awareness on behalf of women and animals. She works in a neo-folk style, using deep brown and gold pigments found in Tibet’s mineral-rich soil to reflect her home and concerns - mountains, yaks, birds, nuns, clouds, women’s spheres, and a diminishing respect for the natural world. `Fusionism’ is the term artist Tenzing Rigdol uses to describe his work, and indeed it could well be applied to any of the works of art in the exhibition. Though this blending of styles and traditions is so often a result of oppression and displacement in the case of Tibet, many of the featured artworks seek to strike a balance between traditional Tibetan culture and those of the artists’ adopted homelands. The Buddha in Rigdol’s Excuse me Sir, Which Way is to My Home? (2008), for example, is cut from a roadmap of the US. In place of temptations of the ego that traditionally appear in thangkas, Rigdol’s Buddha is surrounded by temptations of the modern variety: cologne bottles, cars, and iPhones.  Tsherin Sherpa’s Preservation Project #1 (2009) warns against the pitfalls of forced cultural preservation. It features the Buddha’s head and many hands in the shape of various mudras, all pressed against the inside of a glass jar. Many in his generation, he says, have `not received a formal education on Buddhist philosophy’. They feel disconnected from `the true essence of Buddhist practice’, and Sherpa fears that these traditions may become `just a ritualistic tradition for some of us’. His painting is `an attempt to question and provoke all of us to check and see how we are actually preserving’ traditions. For Sherpa and for many of these artists, Tibet’s traditions may be kept alive and relevant through their very transformations.


 

We Are Nearest to the Sun

By Dedron (b. 1976), 2009

Mineral pigments on canvas

144.1 x 72.6 cm

Collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin

2009.176

LA Confidential

By Gonkar Gyatso (b. 1961), 2007

Pencils and stickers on art paper

83.6 x 61.6 cm

Private collection, Pasadena, California 
 

Nature Unbound: Flora and Fauna in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Art
Princeton University Art Museum
Princeton, New Jersey
Until 18 October 2010

Presenting selected paintings, prints, ceramics, lacquers and photographs, this exhibition aims to showcase various renditions of nature - birds, insects, beasts, flower, and plants - in Chinese, Japanese and Korean art. The works on display exemplify different ways in which nature is represented, from observation based studies to symbolic devices of auspicious messages, manifestations of virtue, to ornamental motifs. A perfect outing for summer, this exhibition offers a diverse representation of nature the rich meanings embedded within that is both visually pleasant and intellectually fulfilling. 

Tarjama/Translation
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Until 24 October 2010

An unprecedented exhibition featuring work of artists from the Middle East, Central Asia and its diaspora. Art Projects International is pleased to announce that Pouran Jinchi's Tajvid Red, a large-scale red ink on paper scroll that unfurls from the ceiling to floor, and 16 paintings from the Alef Series are on view. 

Interior Landscapes: The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle
Honolulu Academy of Arts 
Honolulu, Hawaii
Until 31 October 2010

An exhibition of nearly 200 jewel-like bottles made in a wide variety of materials, including precious metals and semi-precious stones, the palm-size vessels dazzle with intricate painting, carving, enameling and other techniques. The exhibition includes exceptionally rare early inside-painted bottles from the 19th century. Most of the bottles are on loan from Mr. Y.F. Yang but also included is the important collection donated to the Academy by Joanna Lau Sullivan. Snuff bottles in dark green jade, porcelain, agate, rock crystal, glass, lacquer, wood and ivory show the remarkable range of rare, sometimes exotic, materials Chinese artists used. 

SoHyun Bae’s Egg Woman II
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
San Francisco
Until 14 November 2010

The recently acquired painting Egg Woman II by SoHyun Bae brings together ideas from Jewish mysticism with visual motifs and personal remembrances from the Korea of her childhood. Inspired by the `Lurianic Myth of Creation’, a Jewish mystical belief that the world remains shattered as the result of the banishment of the Shekhinah, the female presence of God.  Bae  recalls as a child in Korea the visits of  a frail and tiny woman balancing an enormous basket of eggs on her head symbolizing the plight of women and of life's desperate and precarious balancing act but with a measure of dignity and grace.

Japan’s Early Ambassadors to San Francisco, 1860–1927
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Until 21 November 2010 

Timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the ship Kanrin Maru and the first Japanese embassy to the US, this thematic exhibit focuses on some of the first Japanese diplomats and cultural emissaries in San Francisco, and how they responded to the experience of being in America. It highlights more than 40 artworks and other visual media associated with the first mission, with travel to the US and with Japanese artists and cultural leaders active in San Francisco between 1880 and 1927. The exhibition addresses the personal and artistic challenges faced by these artists, which included discriminatory practices and attitudes, and an anti-Japanese movement tied directly to the 1924 Exclusion Act prohibiting further immigration from Japan. It culminates with a presentation of two of the Friendship Dolls sent to San Francisco as `goodwill ambassadors’ from Japan in 1927, part of an orchestrated response to this law.

Enigmatic Views of Chinese Landscape Explore the Passage of Time - Contemporary Chinese Artist Hai Bo
The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Washington, DC
Until 28 November 2010 

The five large-scale photographs are the latest installment in the Sackler’s contemporary series, `Perspectives’ which focuses on the work of leading contemporary artists from Asia and the Asian diaspora and bridges the gap between the traditional, often separate, roles played by Asian art museums and modern art galleries.

Hai Bo has been returning to his hometown for decades to photograph the familiar places of his youth. As China’s cities grow exponentially, the artist looks poignantly at another aspect of large-scale urbanization: the increasingly desolate and aging villages of rural China. The photographs convey a sense of nostalgia for the beauty and vastness of the Chinese landscape. In a quartet of photographs on view titled `Four Seasons’ the artist photographed himself beneath the same tree during each season. Once an untamed place where he used to play as a child, as well as the site of a family tragedy, the tree is now part of a park in a growing city. Also on view is a large-scale print titled `The Northern No. 29’, part of a series of works in which the artist captures stunning, enigmatic views of the Jilin landscape.

Celebration: The Birthday in Chinese Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York
Until 28 November 2010

Birthday celebrations and concomitant themes of longevity are pervasive in Chinese art of the Ming and Qing dynasties. A recurring scene of a splendid reception at the residence of a wealthy family, represented in a lacquered screen, a set of embroidered hanging scrolls and a porcelain vase, shows the 80th birthday gathering for the Tang dynasty general Guo Ziyi, a popular figure of long life, wealth and honour. Longevity is also encoded in peaches, cranes, immortals and flora and fauna of many kinds, sometimes forming sophisticated visual word play expressing wishes of long life for the honoree. The exhibition will draw together works in many media from the museum’s collection to illuminate these auspicious themes.

Flowers of the Four Seasons: Ten Centuries of Art from the ClarkCenter for Japanese Art and Culture
Berkeley Art Museum, University of California
Berkeley, California
Until 12 December 2010

Over 110 works of art from the Clark Center of Hanford, California are on view. The exhibition reflects the broad collecting interests of the Center’s founder Willard G. Clark. His passion for Japanese art and culture has resulted in a collection ranging from the late Heian period to the 21st century, including all major areas of artistic endeavor - screens, scrolls, wood sculptures, textiles, ceramics and works of bamboo. Much of the exhibition comprises work from the Edo, or pre-modern, period. The hanging scrolls and folding screens on display portray a variety of subjects; playful images of urban life, the elegant diversions of nobility, portraits of Buddha, natural and idealized landscapes, flora, birdlife and other animals. The overall effect of this variety of imagery is a remarkable view of the artistic creativity in Edo Japan. Wood and polychromy Buddhist sculptures, dating from the Heian period to the Kamakura period, are the oldest pieces in the exhibition. Moving forward in time, a portion focuses on late 20th century bamboo sculpture. Signature works of some of the most significant modern bamboo sculptors including Ueno Masao, Mimura Chikuhô, Nagakura Ken’ichi and Uematsu Chikuyû are highlighted and contemporary artist Fukami Sueharu’s collection of light blue ceramic sculptures, with sleek edges and softly contoured planes that evoke sword blades or ocean waves, round out the exhibition and demonstrate that Clark’s interests encompass both the past and the future of Japanese art.

The exhibition will be accompanied by public programs, including a lecture on 26 August 2010, by British scholar Timon Screech ‘Collecting and Viewing in the Edo Period: Some Thoughts on the Ownership and Display of Paintings’ - and a series of four performance-based events presented in conjunction with BAM/PFA’s after hours programme.

Tibetan Portrait: The Power of Compassion
The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art
Staten Island, New York
Until 31 December 2010

The purpose of this exhibition is to heighten awareness of the incredibly rich Tibetan culture and the people who have maintained compassion in the face of tremendous difficulties. It emphasizes cultural understanding and religious tolerance.  Portraits, interactive displays and objects show the traditions and beliefs of the Tibetan people.  Also highlights photographic portraits of Tibetan people by renowned contemporary artist Phil Borges. Interactive displays focus on aspects of traditional Tibetan culture such as a map of Tibet’s changing borders, a moveable display of Himalayan mountains, audio recordings of mantra chanting and a hands-on display of Tibetan prayer wheels.

An installation of approximately 35 highlights from the Met's extensive collection of rare and exquisitely decorated armour, weapons and equestrian equipment from Tibet and related areas of Mongolia and China, dating from the 15th to 20th century. Included are several recent acquisitions that have never been exhibited or published. 
 

Shape & Spirit: Selections from the Lutz Bamboo Collection
Denver Art Museum
Denver, Colorado
Until 31 December 2010

This inaugural exhibition in the redesigned gallery space showcases the wonder of bamboo through more than 200 objects that capture the spirit and  cultural character of their makers. Woven baskets, carved f igures and everyday tools are displayed in the new space designated for bamboo pieces from East Asia. All objects on view are from the extensive Lutz Bamboo Collection. The gallery will feature artwork from China, Japan and Korea displaying the numerous varieties of bamboo used throughout the countries and symbols important to each culture. Visitors will see how styles and uses have evolved over time and discover how bamboo is being handled by 20th century artists. Although many pieces by named artists will be exhibited, most objects are anonymously produced.

Pleasures and Pastimes in Japanese Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia
Until Fall 2010 

This exhibition features masks and gorgeous costumes of the Noh theatre as well as libretti and musical instruments that accompany the Noh performances. In contrast to this pastime of the nobility, anyone can partake of the pleasures of fishing, making it a favourite subject, both in scroll paintings and on ceramics and lacquer. The arts related to the tea ceremony form a strong thread of tradition that survives to the present day, including flower arranging (ikebana), incense games and the pleasures of gourmet food and drink. Some of the most beautiful ceramic vessels relate to the enjoyment of sake and whether inspired by tea or by wine, the writing of poetry has long been an avocation aspired to by all. An ancient card game, based on one hundred classical poems, is played in celebration of the New Year; a set of these cards will be in the exhibition.

Taking Shape: Ceramics in Southeast Asia
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC
Until 2010

Approximately 200 diverse and visually striking ceramic vessels from Southeast Asia will remain on display for three years in the Sackler connecting link, which joins the Sackler and the Freer. These clay pots and jars, made permanent by firing in bonfires or kilns, form the most enduring record of human activities, interactions and ideas about form and decoration in mainland Southeast Asia. Given to the Sackler between 1996 and 2005 by brothers Osborne and Victor Hauge and their wives Gratia and Takako, these remarkable objects provide the focus for a detailed narrative of the migration of pots from their makers to their users.

The Warrior Emperor and China's Terracotta Army

Royal Ontario Museum

Toronto, Canada

Until 2 January 2011

The exhibition showcases artefacts from the tomb complex of China's First Emperor of the Qin dynasty who was buried 2,200 years ago in what is now China's northern Shaanxi province. The First Emperor surrounded himself with nearly 8,000 full sized terracotta warriors and horses in magnificent military formations and many other artefacts in preparation for the afterlife. Alongside ten life-sized terracotta figures from the tomb are 250 of the artefacts which trace key moments in history before, during and after the lifetime of Ying Zheng. On loan from more than a dozen archaeological institutes and museums in Shaanxi Province, nearly a third of the artefacts have never been shown outside of China, and some have never been publicly displayed anywhere, making the ROM's exhibition a landmark event. Highlighting the life, times and afterlife of Ying Zheng, the exhibition explores the figures in a broad historical and social context. Visitors will learn about China’s rich history during these periods and about the political and social transitions, including the dramatic change from war to peace, that took place during various dynasties.

Secrets of the Silk Road
Houston Museumof Natural Science
Houston, Texas
Until 2 January 2011
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Philadelphia, Pennysylvania
5 February 2011 - 5 June 2011 

One of the most important archaeological finds -- and certainly one of the greatest mysteries of the 20^th century -- are the hundreds of well-preserved mummies that have been found buried in the parched sands of the Tarim Basin in the Far Western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.

The reason these mummies are so historically important and have created such a controversy is their high degree of preservation, which has allowed scientists to see far more detail than would normally be expected in a burial site.  The material buried with them, as well as their perfectly-preserved clothing, bears a striking resemblance to mummies found in Siberia to the North, Persia to the West, and Europe. What is even more surprising is that these mummies span a period of more than 3,000 years, providing a glimpse into the ancient Silk Road traders, who were an intriguing mix of people from all over Eurasia, based on DNA research.

For the first time these mummies are being seen outside Asia. This groundbreaking exhibition features more than 150 objects, many predating the Silk Road by more than 1,500 years. These objects have been drawn from the collections of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum and the Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology in Urumqi.

The exhibition is accompanied by a landmark catalog authored by an impressive team of authorities including Victor Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania, and Consulting Scholar, Penn Museum (Catalogue Editor); Dr. Spencer Wells, Director of the Genome Project of the National Geographic Society; Dr. Elizabeth Barber, noted textile expert from Occidental College; and Lothar von Falkenhausen, Professor, UCLA Department of History.

Cornucopia: Ceramics from Southern Japan
The Freer Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C.
Until 9 January 2011 

This exhibition includes more than 100 porcelain and stoneware vessels that vividly represent an era of highly diverse and accomplished ceramic production in southern Japan. A wide array of ceramic forms, including tea caddies, tea bowls, vases, rice bowls and incense burners spans from the late 16th to the late 19th century, an era that marks the most diverse production of ceramics in Japanese history, encompassing hundreds of kilns that produced vessels for the Japanese market and for export to Europe and Southeast Asia. The cornucopia of Kyushu ceramics overflowed into markets throughout Japan and around the world. All the works on view were the focus of a recent review by Japanese scholar and Kyushu ceramics specialist Ohashi Koji, as part of a 10-year project to review the dating of ceramics in the museum’s Japanese and Korean collections. The exhibition introduces the objects to the public for the first time with their recently revised attributions and dating. Potters, collectors and the public will delight in the variety of objects in this exhibition: ornately to modestly decorated stoneware, sake bottles, jars for pickled plums and boat-shaped dishes are just a few examples of the variety on view.

Hiroshige: Visions of Japan
Norton Simon Museum
Pasadena, California
Until 17 January 2011    

Highlights of this exhibition of 150 prints from the museum’s collection include more than twenty bird and flower prints, delightful works of flora and fauna created in the 1830s such as Hawk on a Pine Branch and Kingfisher with Iris. Hiroshige’s early masterpiece, The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, will also be exhibited, as well as the famous series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, created in 1858, only a few months before his death from cholera at the age of 62.

Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from The National Museum of Cambodia
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Washington, D. C.
Until 23 January 2011

The fascinating story of bronze sculpture and casting in Cambodia is revealed through thirty-six exceptional works. Magnificent examples dating from the prehistoric period to the post-Angkorian period (third century BCE to sixteenth century CE) present the origins, uses, and techniques of bronze casting and the development of a distinctly Cambodian style. This exhibition is the result of an ongoing partnership between the Freer and Sackler Galleries and the National Museum of Cambodia. The museums have worked together to establish a metals conservation laboratory in Cambodia, the first in that nation. Seven of the works on view, discovered in 2006, are among the first bronzes conserved in the lab by the staff of the National Museum. Gods of Angkor travels to the Getty Center of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in early 2011. 

Projects 93: Dinh Q. Lê
The Museum of Modern Art
New York
Until 24 January 2011 

Dinh Q. Lê weaves together personal recollections with larger histories and mythologies often related to the Vietnam War for an installation comprising a three-channel video and a helicopter hand-built from scrap parts by Le Van Danh, a farmer, and Tran Quoc Hai, a self-taught mechanic. Lê’s video interlaces the personal recollections of the war by Vietnamese locals with clips from Western films. While many of the interviewees relay childhood memories of the horrors associated with helicopters during the war, the helicopter-makers share their vision of this machine as a means to make a better life for the Vietnamese people and bring strength to their community. Installed in adjacent galleries, the helicopter and the video projection offer a multilayered insight into the complex relationships between the Vietnamese individuals and the charged object of the helicopter.

Pat Steir: After Hokusai, After Hiroshige

The de Young Museum

San Francisco, CA

Until 30 January 2011

Complementing Japanesque at the Legion of Honor, this exhibition shows the continued influence of the Japanese print on Western artists into the late twentieth century. American painter, printmaker and conceptual artist Pat Steir was the first artist selected by Kathan Brown in 1982 to travel to Japan to make a colour woodcut for Crown Point Press’s groundbreaking printmaking program in Kyoto. There she had the opportunity to work closely with artisans trained in the traditional methods of Japanese woodblock printing. In 1984 and 1985 she turned to subjects derived from famous prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige in color etchings she produced at Crown Point Press in Oakland: The Tree after Hiroshige; The Wave—From the Sea after Leonardo, Hokusai, and Courbet; and Yellow Bridge in the Rain after Van Gogh after Hiroshige. These prints will be exhibited along with a series of fascinating working proofs for The Tree after Hiroshige that show the numerous composition and color changes that Steir made during her working process.

China Modern: Designing Popular Culture
Pacific Asia Museum
Pasadena, California
Until 6 February 2011

An event presenting the competing values of Chinese modern society and politics – cosmopolitan capitalism of Republican Shanghai c. 1920-1949, and the PRC’s Maoist communism from c. 1949-1970 – through the frame of advertising, consumer goods, product design and graphics. The exhibition begins by introducing early modern graphic design and concludes with contemporary art that appropriates the styles and themes of 1930s Shanghai or the Cultural Revolution.

Between Here and There: Passages in Contemporary Photography
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York
Until 13 February 2011

Among the 22 photographic works are those by Chinese artist Weng Fen who explores a young generation poised at a transitional moment between China's traditional rural society and a quickly burgeoning urbanism. Bird's Eye View: Haikou V (2002) shows a woman - perhaps an outsider or a new arrival to the city - perched on an old wall, looking toward the new skyscrapers on the horizon, but not fully occupying the space of the past or the future. This work is part of a group of recent gifts and promised gifts of contemporary Chinese photographs to the Museum.

Perspectives: Hai Bo
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Washington, D. C.
Until 27 Feburary 2011

The speed and scale of change in contemporary China has been registered by a number of artists exploring the country’s cities and industrial remnants. In stark contrast, Hai Bo looks to the desolate plains of northeastern China. For over two decades, Hai Bo has been returning to his hometown in Jilin province to capture the people and places of his youth, creating deeply moving portraits of resilience amidst the growing isolation of rural China. Featuring five stunning, large scale photographs from his Northern Series, this exhibition offers moments to enter the vast panoramas of the artist’s childhood memories, observe the subtle changes of nature across seasons, and encounter the gentle transience of life. 

In the Service of The Buddha: Tibetan Furniture from the Hayward Family Collection

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Los Angeles, California

Until 3 April 2011

Tibetan furniture was primarily made for use in Buddhist monasteries and households. Typically painted with brilliant mineral pigments, it is often further adorned with rich gilding and designs made of applied gesso. Organized by LACMA and curated by Stephen Markel, South and Southeast Asian art, this exhibition features selections from the Hayward Family Collection, the premier assemblage of Tibetan furniture in the US. Distinguished by its quality and depth, the collection includes masterpieces of virtually every important type of Tibetan furniture.

Himalayan Pilgrimage: Journey to the Land of Snows
Berkeley Art Museum, University of California
Berkeley, California
Until 24 April 2011 

Reaching across several centuries and over the highest mountains in the world, Buddhism spread from India through the narrow corridors of Central Asia into Tibet, where it has remained the primary ethical and moral compass of the Tibetan people. This journey can be explored through the exceptionally beautiful objects of sculpture and painting dating from the ninth to the eighteenth centuries and drawn from a private collection on long-term loan to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. The central image, a five-foot-tall seated Buddha, provides the axis and symbolic core of the exhibition. This sculpture of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni is seen in a gesture of “touching the earth,” or bhumisparsa mudra, in which he calls on the earth to witness his enlightenment. From this, the central figure and the basic principle of Buddhist thought, the exhibition goes on to explore the cosmic realms of Vajrayana, the Diamond Vehicle of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism.

Flora and Fauna in Korean Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia
Until Spring 2011

Depictions of flora and fauna found in Chinese art as well as those indigenous to their native peninsula inspired Korean artists and craftspeople. In East Asia, animals and plants served as living symbols with philosophical, historical and metaphorical associations. Symbolic interpretations of particular plants and animals were widely shared throughout China, Japan and Korea. Mythical creatur es such as dragons and phoenixes were believed to protect against evil spirits. Plums, orchids, chrysanthemums and bamboo were considered to be `four friends’. Often the metaphorical meanings of animals and plants were based on word play.

Drawn from the permanent collection, this exhibition features approximately 50 objects, including paintings, ceramics and lacquer objects. Among the highlights will be a pair of Korean court paintings; one depicts phoenixes with their young and a paulownia tree and, while the other shows peacocks with chicks and a peach tree. These rare paintings from the Joseon dynasty were recently conserved and remounted in Korea, and will make their debut in this exhibition. Directly attached to the wall of a Joseon palace, they would have functioned both as wall decorations and emblems of good fortune.

Owing to the fragility of works on paper and silk, the paintings will be rotated periodically.

Mighty Meji Metals: Sculpture from 19th Century Japan
Crow Collection of Asian Art
Dallas, Texas
Until 12 June 2011

The confidence of Japan’s new nationalistic identity in the Meiji era is displayed in this small exhibition of outstanding works of art drawn from the Crow Collection: three imposing bronze sculptures over four feet in height, a dramatic carved and lacquered wood screen ornamented with precious metals, and ceramics and enamelware draped in liquid gold.

Meiji style aims for sensational effects: pictorial themes, drawn from Japanese history and mythology (with links to China) are vivified with realism and hyper-detail. Casting techniques are complex and daring. Ceramics flush with color and gold. An association of Japanese art with patience and consummate skill is firmly imprinted. 
 

Five Colors: Chinese Cloisonné Vessels on Loan from the Mandel Family Collection
Crow Collection of Asian Art
Dallas, Texas
Until 12 June 2011 

A dozen monumental cloisonné vessels that fit the imperial model made during the Ming and Qing dynasties are on view in the exhibition. In cases adjacent to the large cloisonné vessels on long-term loan to the Crow Collection, an instructive array of objects from the collection is assembled to demonstrate various uses of enamel in the Chinese decorative arts.
 

Gateway to Himalayan Art
Rubin Museum of Art
New York
Until 1 January 2012

This exhibition marks a redesign of the museum's introductory exhibition and lays the groundwork for visitors' understanding Himalayan art, geography and culture. Explanatory graphics and multimedia presentations address themes ranging from iconography and symbolism, to methods of art production, to the religious and secular functions of Himalayan art. Beginning in October a Tibetan shrine room will offer a particularly unique opportunity for visitors to experience Himalayan art in its cultural context.

What Is It? Himalayan Art
Rubin Museum of Art
New York
Until 4 February 2013

This exhibition is intended to serve as a guide through the exhilarating landscape of Himalayan art. It is organized into four sections, and each object on view contributes a partial answer to the question `What is Himalayan art?' The installation will change periodically to refocus the questions and to pose others. The museum as a whole is a journey along many paths through Himalayan art, offering intimate encounters and changing perspectives. 

Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990 and Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents
Asia Art Archive and The Museum of Modern Art
Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, China and New York, USA
Opening September 2010

Asia Art Archive (AAA) and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) celebrate the completion of two documentary projects that are essential to a deeper understanding of the history of contemporary Chinese art: AAA’s Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990 and MoMA’s publication of Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents. The two organizations will colaunch both projects in major cities in China and in New York in the fall of 2010 with a series of public programs. These milestone projects focus on the dramatic development and growth of Chinese contemporary art over the last three decades by documenting, collecting and translating critical discussions, primary materials and key texts.

Schedule of Public Program

The co-launch will be accompanied by a series of discussion forums with artists, curators and scholars:

Hong Kong, 7th September, 6.30 – 8.30pm, Hong Kong Arts Centre

Speakers include: Chen Tong (Artist), Doryun Chong (Associate Curator of Painting & Sculpture at MoMA), Jane DeBevoise (Chair of Board of Directors of AAA), Wang Aihe (Associate Professor, School of Chinese, The University of Hong Kong), Wu Hung (Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia, and Consulting Curator at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago) and Xu Tan (Artist)

Beijing, 9th September, 6.30 – 8.30pm, The Central Academy of Fine Arts

Speakers include: Doryun Chong, Jane DeBevoise, Song Dong (Artist), Huang Rui (Artist), Wu Hung and Xu Bing (Artist)

Shanghai, 11th September, 4 – 6pm, Minsheng Art Museum

Speakers include: Doryun Chong, Jane DeBevoise, Wu Shanzhuan (Artist), Shi Yong (Artist), Wu Hung and Yu Youhan (Artist)

New York, 15th October, 6:30pm, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Speakers include: Huang Rui (Artist), Jane DeBevoise, Lin Tianmiao (Artist), Sarah Suzuki (Assistant Curator of Prints & Illustrated Books at MoMA), and Wu Hung, among other leading artists and critics of Contemporary Chinese art. The event will be followed by a reception, where the book will be available for purchase. 

The Nepalese Legacy in Tibetan Painting
The Rubin Museum of Art
New York
3 September 2010 – 23 May 2011

This exhibition traces the chronological development of the Beri style, highlighting key stylistic features such as dark indigo blue backgrounds, predominant red tones, decorative scrollwork and distinctive architectural details. It seeks to correct the erroneous limitation of the Beri style to the Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism, and to demonstrate the full extent of its chronological development, religious patronage, and geographic scope. Among the most noteworthy works from the exhibition are a masterful painting containing four minutely-detailed mandalas created in the mid-15th century by Newari artists; the last two known major commissions in the Beri style; and important loans from the Walters Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a number of private collections.

Luminosity in Monochrome: Japanese Ink Painting and Calligraphy
The Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture
Hanford, California
Part 1: 4 September – 13 November 2010
Part 2: 20 November 2010 – 29 January 2011 

Focusing on representations of religious subjects, landscapes, flora and fauna, the exhibition will explore how Japanese artists interpreted established themes and motifs of traditional Chinese ink painting and reconstituted them as their own. Landscapes imaginary and real provide fertile ground for artists seeking space for the mind to wander, or conversely, as expressions of rationalism and order. The works featured, drawn from the Clark Center collection, will allow visitors to experience the lyrical, the poignant, the humorous and the sublime. 

Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool

Asia Society

New York

9 September 2010 – 2 January 2011

The exhibition assembles 20 years’ worth of paintings, sculpture, drawings and large-scale installations that map the evolution of one of the most influential and internationally renowned NeoPop artists working today. It draws connections between the artist's work and the sensibilities of youth subcultures worldwide, focusing on themes of alienation and rebellion, particularly in relation to rock and punk music, the inspiration and subject of many of Nara’s works. The graphic nature of Nara’s art recalls the lyrics of rock groups such as Nirvana, The Doors, and The Ramones, and his art has inspired a cult following among youth throughout Asia.

The exhibition includes more than 100 works from Nara’s early period to recent years. Many of these have never been exhibited in the US. In addition, the exhibition will include a newly commissioned installation that is the result of a collaboration between Nara and designer Hideki Toyoshima, a founding member of the Japanese design collective graf, established in Osaka, Japan, in 2000.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated book, the first comprehensive monograph on the work of Yoshitomo Nara.

Four Thousand Years of Southeast Asian Art
Honolulu Academy of Arts
Honolulu, Hawaii
9 September 2010 - 9 January 2011

A presentation of  more than 150 works of art from Cambodia and Thailand, ranging in date from the 4th millennium BCE to the 16th century CE. Many of these works have never before been on display at the museum. Featured will be numerous bronzes and ceramics, some of which date to back 5,000 years.

A wide variety of sculpture, both monumental and miniature, in stone and bronze from the Angkor kingdom explores the development of the unique Angkorian ceramics tradition; the arts of the Sukhothai kingdom includes select examples of Chinese ceramics from the same period and later examples of Japanese tea ceremony ceramics influenced by Sukhothai export wares. Highlights of the exhibition include rare ritual ceramic vessels from the early period of Ban Chiang culture, classic sculptures and ceramics from the peak of the Angkor kingdom during the 12th to 13th centuries, and celadon-glazed stoneware and exquisite examples of Thai Buddhist arts from the 15th to 16th centuries.

Thirty-Six Aspects of Mount Fuji in Japanese Illustrated Books from the Arthur Tress Collection –Part I
The Legion of Honor
San Francisco, CA
11 September 2010 – 20 February 2011

Noted photographer Arthur Tress began collecting Japanese books in the fall of 1965 when he was a student at the Zen study center associated with the Sh?koku-ji temple in Kyoto. In the 45 years since that first discovery, Tress continued to collect books and now has a comprehensive collection numbering several hundred volumes. He has selected a small group from his collection for this first of a two-part exhibition of illustrated books on the subject of Fuji, the iconic mountain that is the enduring symbol of Japan. Thirty-Six Aspects of Mount Fuji in Japanese Illustrated Books brings together books dating from the late 1600s through the 19th century that show Fuji viewed from various vantage points, at different times of year and during all four seasons. Fuji is also seen as a decorative motif in elaborately printed pattern books for kimonos and folding fans. Key among the selections are several volumes featuring illustrations from Hokusai’s One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, published between 1834 and 1849 after his successful color print series, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (ca. 1830–1832). Part II follows in February 2011.

The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City
Peabody Essex Museum
Salem, MA
14 September 2010 – 9 January 2011
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York
1 February – 1 May 2011
Milwaukee Art Museum
Milwaukee, WI
11 June – 12 September 2011 

The contents of an Emperor’s private retreat deep within the Forbidden City will be revealed for the first time in a major travelling exhibition in the US. An 18th-century compound in a hidden quadrant of the immense imperial complex, the Qianlong Garden (also known as the Tranquility and Longevity Palace Garden), is part of a decade-long, multimillion-dollar conservation initiative undertaken by the World Monuments Fund in partnership with the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Ninety objects of ceremony and leisure - murals, paintings, wall coverings, furniture, architectural elements, jades and cloisonné - unveil the private realm of the Qianlong emperor, one of history’s most influential figures. In his time, he was among the richest, most powerful men the world. A connoisseur, scholar and devout Buddhist, he created a luxurious garden compound to serve throughout his retirement as a secluded place of contemplation, repose and entertainment.

Woodcuts in Modern China, 1937 - 2008: Towards a Universal Pictorial Language
China Institute Gallery
New York
16 September – 5 December 2010

This first exhibition in the US presents a comprehensive overview of the development of woodcut prints in China over the last 70 years. It surveys 68 woodcuts, ranging from formative early work, when artists in China first began experimenting with western-style techniques, to the work of important artists working today such as Xu Bing and Zhang Minjie. The first section incorporates 34 works drawn from an important collection of over 200 woodcuts dating from 1937 to 1948. Donated to the Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University by Theodore Herman, professor of geography emeritus, who acquired them from the artists in 1948, this collection is considered to be unparalleled in the US. The remaining 34 works are from 11 important contemporary artists who, after reviewing the Herman collection, selected works that `they felt expressed their reverence for the older masters, engaging them in a dialogue across time’.

Providing an extraordinary view of China’s political and social turmoil during the past century,  the exhibition represents a new development in Chinese art, whereby art became a form of communication used to express a broad range of emotions. The art also called attention to social and cultural inequities and led to the rise of the Chinese avant-garde.

A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition as well as a series of four special programs.

In late September, Ralph Croizier, Professor Emeritus, University of Victoria, British Columbia, a distinguished scholar of post-Cultural Revolution art movements in China, will discuss the evolution of woodblock printing and peasant painting and their impact on contemporary Chinese art. In October and November, Ben Wang, Senior Lecturer at China Institute and a noted translator of Chinese poetry and drama, will offer a three-session course on Chinese proverbs. The proverbs, mostly made of four Chinese characters, evolved from history and legends, as well as common social customs and folk sayings from regional cultures. The series will conclude in late November with a lecture by Ben Wang and a performance of vignettes from the classical repertoire of the Peking Opera by New York City’s very own `Singing Delivery Man’, Yang Yu Bao, who was recently profiled in the Daily News.

Green, Amber, Cream: Forgotten Art of a Ceramic Workshop in Shanxi, China
Princeton University Art Museum
Princeton, New Jersey
25 September 2010 - 9 January 2011 

In 2005, the Princeton University Art Museum acquired a Ming dynasty sancai glazed ceramic statue of Guanyin in memory of Professor Frederick W. Mote. The inscription on the back dates the piece to 1500 and gives the name of the artist as Qiao Bin, who was part of a family workshop in Yangcheng, Shanxi province. It was discovered that in The Metropolitan Museum of Art a sleeping Buddha (dated 1503) group was also made by the Qiao family, and a Daoist divinity (dated 1481) was by Qiao Bin and his father. This research exhibition will focus on the Qiao family workshop and their relationship to other regional ceramic workshops. Works on exhibit include the sleeping Buddha and Daoist divinity side by side with Princeton’s Guanyin, as well as with another Guanyin statue (dated 1507) by Qiao Bin’s father that was recently found in storage at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

Rise and Fall - Fiona Tan
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Washington, D. C.
25 September 2010- 16 January 2011 

This is the first major exhibition of this acclaimed artist’s work to be shown in the US. Tan’s photographs and video installations deftly meld the past and the present in profoundly evocative works that explore the power of images in constructing memories and histories. Whether drawing on old photographs, 17th century Dutch painting or 19th century Orientalist architecture, her conceptual and aesthetic approach adds a compelling dimension to understanding Asian art and culture in the world today. 

The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York
28 September 2010 – 2 January 2011

This exhibition will cover the period from 1215, the year of Khubilai’s birth, to 1368, the year of the fall of the Yuan dynasty in China founded by Khubilai Khan, and will feature every art form, including paintings, sculpture, gold and silver, textiles, ceramics, lacquer and other decorative arts, religious and secular. Some 220 works drawn principally from China, with additional loans from Japan, Europe and the US will explore the art and material culture that flourished during this pivotal and vibrant period in Chinese culture and history. The assemblage of extraordinary works will include paintings and sculpture, as well as decorative arts in gold and silver, textile, ceramics, and lacquer, and the exhibition will highlight new art forms and styles that were generated in China as a result of the unification of the country under the Yuan dynasty, founded by Khubilai in 1271. The loans from China will include key pieces from recent archaeological finds which add immeasurably to our knowledge and understanding of Chinese art of this period.

The exhibition will open with a section on daily life particularly at the imperial court and the capital cities: Coleridge's Xanadu (Shangdu) and Dadu (present-day Beijing). It will include portraits of emperors and their consorts, architectural elements in stone and pottery, costumes, jewellery and other luxury items for daily use. This section will provide the visitor with a very good idea of what greeted the eyes of Marco Polo when he first reached Dadu (Khanbaligh), the capital of the Great Khan Khubilai. Also on view are paintings and sculpture relating to various religions practiced in Yuan China, including Buddhism, Daoism, Nestorian Christianity, Islam, Manichaeism and Hinduism. Paintings and calligraphy of every major artist and school of the period will also be featured. Highlights will be two paintings datable to the period between the Mongols’ initial incursion into north China in 1215 and the conquest of the Southern Song in 1276; they will be put in a proper context in Chinese art history for the first time in an exhibition. The final section of the exhibition will concentrate on the decorative arts, with emphasis on porcelain, lacquer and textiles. The beginning and early development of underglaze decorated porcelain will be presented by important examples, particularly blue-and-white, which eventually became a universal type of porcelain in both Asia and Europe up to the present time. Textiles will be represented by luxury silks from Central Asia and China - apart from their visual appeal, they also demonstrate the exchange of motifs and weaving techniques between China and the Iranian world. A magnificent example on view will be the ‘cloth of gold’, made famous over the world by travellers to Yuan China such as Marco Polo. A highly unusual carpet woven in the tradition of the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes, with a Chinese motif surrounded by a Kufic border, will also be included in this section.

Accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by the Metropolitan Museum and distributed by Yale University Press.

(See articles by James C. Y. Watt, Zhixin Jason Sun, Denise Patry Leidy and Birgitta Augustin in Orientations, September 2010 issue.)
 

Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
30 September 2010 – 16 January 2011
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Washington, DC
26 February – 31 July 2011
The Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas
11 September 2011 – 8 January 2012
The San Diego Museum of Art
San Diego, California
18 February – 27 May 2012

A major new travelling exhibition that traces the historical origins, tragic despoliation and digital reconstruction of one of the earliest and most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in China. Drawing on a multi-year research and 3-D scanning project based at the Center for the Art of East Asia at the University of Chicago, the exhibition mixes ancient objects from Xiangtangshan - considered among the finest achievements of Chinese sculpture - with innovative digital components, including a video installation that provides an immersive, kinetic re-creation of one of the largest stone temples.

After years of intensive research, it is now possible to digitally envision much of the caves’ initial appearance. The exhibition provides new insight into Xiangtangshan’s original designs and meanings while offering a model for understanding and interpreting damaged cultural sites.

Symposium: Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan
23 October 2010

Join leading scholars for a free symposium that examines the history, culture, iconography, and religious function of the Xiangtangshan temple caves. Confirmed speakers currently include Katherine R. Tsiang (University of Chicago), Daisy Yiyou Wang (Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery), J. Keith Wilson (Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery), Dorothy Wong (University of Virginia) and Victor Xiong (Western Michigan University).  

The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin
Japan Society
New York
1 October 2010 - 16 January 2011
New Orleans Museum of Art
New Orleans, Louisiana
12 February – 17 April 2011
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles, California
22 May – 17 August 2011

For this exhibition organizers and noted Zen scholars Audrey Yoshiko Seo and Stephen L. Addiss have gathered 69 scroll paintings by Hakuin Ekaku and nine by his major pupils from public and private collections in Japan and the US. The selection brings into public view a masterly body of work, one in which deftly executed, fluid lines, delicate ink washes, quick, rough strokes and spidery calligraphic marks serve to capture the energy of life and the playfulness and spiritual intensity of Zen practice. The exhibition traces Hakuin’s development from the more linear works of his early period to paintings and calligraphy of massive power from the final two decades of his life.

Venice. 3 Visions in Glass - Laura de Santillana, Cristiano Bianchin, Yoichi Ohira
The Naples Museum of Art
Naples, Florida
1 October 2010 – 15 January 2011
Musée des Arts décoratifs
Paris, France
23 March – 4 September 2011 

Among the most delightful paintings on view are those that depict mundane objects and activities, sometimes in the guise of myths and folk tales, whether it be a monkey on a tree limb, two preening foxes dancing, or a Buddhist pilgrim perched on the back of another to write on a high wall. In the painting Blind Men Crossing a Bridge, the tiniest of brush strokes manages to conjure up halting steps and uncertain balance in a progression along a wooden bridge—the latter summoned up in one broad, bold, horizontal stroke. A similar economy enlivens other works, such as Shoki Sleeping, which captures a tub-bellied folk deity, boots on, snoozing. One of Hakuin’s favorite subjects was the happy-go-lucky wandering monk, Hotei. Featured in the exhibition is a painting of Hotei asking ‘What is the sound of one hand?’ along with 17 other depictions of the bumbling monk as everyman: sleeping, meditating, riding in a boat, shouldering a large mallet, and - most unusual of all - floating as a kite in mid-air.

Accompany the exhibition is a 281-page, fully-illustrated catalogue The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin (Shambhala Publications, September 2010), written by Professors Seo and Addiss. It offers further scholarly insights and provides a permanent record of the exhibition.

Symposium: Hear The Sound of One Hand Clapping: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin
Japan Society
New York
2 October 2010 at 1:00 pm

This panel explores Zen art with Professor Stephen Addiss, co-curator of The Sound of One Hand; Matthew Welch, Assistant Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Japanese and Korean Art, Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Professor David Rosand, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History, Columbia University; and moderator Joe Earle, Vice President & Director, Japan Society Gallery. Tickets: $11/$7 Japan Society members, members of the Japanese Art Society of America, seniors & students (includes exhibition entry). Box Office: 212-715-1258. 

Embodying the Holy: Icons in Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Tibetan Buddhism

Rubin Museum of Art

New York

6 October 2010 – 7 March 2011

This exhibition compares sacral representations in the Eastern Orthodox Christian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, juxtaposing Greek, Russian, and Byzantine icons with traditional Tibetan Buddhist thangkas. Icons in both traditions share a surprising number of similarities, and parallels can be drawn between iconographic schemes, compositional structure, and narrative techniques. The exhibition also explores important differences in the art of these traditions.

A related two-day ICON Conference on 8 and 9 October will explore the universal power of religious symbolism.

Icon Conference: in conjunction with the exhibition `Embodying the Holy’  

Rubin Museum of Art

New York

8 October

7:00 p.m. Welcome by Martin Brauen, RMA Chief Curator, Rubin Museum of Art

7:15 p.m. Keynote discussion: Are Icons relevant today? With independent Russian journalist Maxim Trudolyubov

Moderated by Kent dur Russell, Curator, Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton MA

9 October

9:30 a.m.

Session I – Indo-Himalayan Iconography

With discussant Ramon Prats, Curator, Rubin Museum of Art

Divine Appearances, Images, and Ritual: Some Reflections from Chinese and Indian Texts

On the history of images in Asia – in what was essentially an aniconic religious culture.

With Phyllis Granoff, Lex Hixon Professor of World Religions at Yale University, and Koichi Shinohara, Senior Lecturer of Religious Studies, Yale University

The Buddha’s Stupa and Image: The Icons Embodying his Immanency and Transcendency On the iconic and doctrinal permutations, and the actual relationship between the Buddha's stupa and image. With Tadeusz Skorupski, Director, Centre of Buddhist Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Locating the Portrait in the Icon: A 13th Century Thangka from the Rubin Collection Reconsidered

On how iconographical features in paintings and sculpture may sometimes have had their origins in portraiture, in the effort to depict subjects "as they were."

With Matthew Kapstein, Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies, The University of Chicago Divinity School

1:00 p.m.

Session II – Orthodox Iconography

With discussant Kent dur Russell, Curator, Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton MA

Envisioning the Ruler in Medieval Rus: The Iconography of Intercession and Architecture

On the semiotic sign-based connections of iconography and architectural context, commenting on inherent hierarchies high/low, left/right, simultaneous/sequential, and specific Muscovite references. With Michael S. Flier, Oleksandr Potebnja Professor of Ukrainian Philology at Harvard University

The Eleousa Kykkiotissa: A Byzantine Icon in Ottoman Cyprus

On how an icon endlessly renegotiated its constitution as a visual object over time.

With Annemarie Weyl Carr, University Distinguished Professor of Art History Emerita Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX

Icons and the Brain: Neuroscience and the Icon Experience

On the innate understanding the iconographer had of human cognitive responses.

With Gary Vikan, Director, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore MD

Registration covers both conference days  $35 per person/$20 Students advance booking

Tickets are available online at www.rmanyc.org/icon or by calling the box office at 212-620-5000 ext. 344

Symposium - Tying the Rainbow: Reexamining Central Asian Ikats
The Textile Museum 
Washington, D.C.
15 – 17 October 2010

Drawing inspiration from Colors of the Oasis, this weekend conference will explore the unparalleled tradition of Central Asian ikats past and present. Speakers will include:
Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Associate Professor and Curator of Clothing and Textiles Collection, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Mary M. Dusenbury, Research Curator, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas (Colors of the Oasis catalog contributor)
Andrew Hale, independent scholar, Sante Fe, New Mexico (Colors of the Oasis catalog contributor)
Dr. Jeff Sahadeo, Director of the Institute of European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Dr. Elena Tsareva, Head of Textile Research, Kunstkamera Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Philippa Watkins, Senior Tutor of Constructed Textiles, Royal College of Art, London, UK
Registration  1 202 667-0441, ext. 64 for more information.

Beyond  Golden Clouds
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
15 October 2010 – 16 January 2011

The rarely seen, large Japanese screens dating from the 1500s through the present celebrates the evolution of the folding screen, or byobu (`wind wall’), from pre-modern to contemporary, highlighting its distinctive position in Japanese culture as both a functional and expressive art form. The exceptional, diverse artworks are borrowed from the esteemed collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and Saint Louis Art Museum. 

Japanesque: The Japanese Print in the Age of Impressionism
The Legion of Honor
San Francisco, CA
16 October 2010 – 9 January 2011

An exhibition introducing audiences to the development of the Japanese print over two centuries (1700–1900) and reveals its profound influence on Western art during the era of Impressionism. It complements the de Young’s presentation of paintings from the Musée d'Orsay, many of which are aesthetically indebted to concepts of the Japanese print, and also the exhibition Pat Steir: After Hokusai, after Hiroshige. Culled primarily from the holdings of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, the exhibition of approximately 250 prints, drawings, paintings, and artist’s books unfolds in three sections: Evolution, Essence, and Influence.
 

Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats
The Textile Museum
Washington, D.C.
16 October 2010 - 13 March 2011

On view is a selection from the 148 high caliber Central Asian ikats given to the museum by collector Murad Megalli in 2005.The stunning, colourful textiles include coats for men and women, and women’s dresses and pants, as well as cradle covers, hangings and fragments - all for the first time. In the streets of Central Asian oasis towns, a man’s clothing defined his status in society and proclaimed his wealth. In the home, the place of honour was filled with the richest ikat textiles. Many family ceremonies were celebrated in surroundings made beautiful with textiles. They are visually stunning because of their bold graphic designs, rich fabric texture and deep, rich and brilliant colours, all of which make them a key source of inspiration for contemporary designers and artists. 

Grain of Emptiness: Buddhist-Inspired Contemporary Art
The Rubin Museum of Art
New York
5 November 2010 – 11 April 2011 

On view are works by five artists of different generations and ethnicities, working between 1960 and the present, whose oeuvres have been influenced by the tenets of Buddhism, including its central principles of emptiness and the fleeting nature of all things. It comprises videos, paintings, photographs, and installations dating from 1961 to 2008 by Sanford Biggers; Theaster Gates; Atta Kim; Wolfgang Laib; and Charmion von Wiegand. Biggers and Gates will each present new site-specific performance works. The exhibition highlights the continuously evolving nature of art inspired by Buddhist ideas and themes.

A catalogue with an introduction by Martin Brauen and an essay on the featured artists by Mary Jane Jacob documents not only the works of art in the exhibition but also their installation.

Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Shouyang Studio: The Katherine and George Fan Collection
The Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
6 November 2010 – 2 January 2011

This exhibition will feature about 70 vessels, weapons and other ancient bronzes that span the 18th through 3rd centuries BCE, from the dawn of dynastic China through the reign of the First Emperor. Assembled by Katherine and George Fan over more than 20 years, this collection is especially distinguished for its large number of ceremonial vessels cast with inscriptions, which range from simple pictographs to detailed accounts of military campaigns and honours bestowed upon important officials. Together, these inscriptions provide primary evidence for ritual beliefs, historical events, and the evolution of one of the world's earliest writing systems. (See interview in Orientations, June 2009 issue.)

In conjunction with this exhibition, the Creel Center for Chinese Paleography of the University of Chicago will host a three-day academic conference from 5 – 7 November. This meeting will bring together major art historians and paleographers from the US, Europe and China. The first day will convene at the Art Institute and sessions on 6 - 7 November will convene at the University of Chicago. 
 

Fresh Ink: Ten Takes on ChineseTradition
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston, Massachusetts
20 November 2010 - 13 February 2011

In this groundbreaking exhibition, contemporary Chinese ink painters engage in dialogue with classical artworks from China’s past. At the core of this exhibition’s concept is an artist-in-residency program. Leading artists from China and the Chinese diaspora have come to Boston to study the MFA’s superb collection of Chinese art, allowing them to create new works in direct response to the Museum’s permanent collection. In the exhibition, the new works and the masterpieces they refer to will be juxtaposed in the new Gund gallery—the ancient will historicize the contemporary, while the contemporary will revitalize the ancient.

The MFA has selected ten artists who, despite their disparate backgrounds, are bound together by their deep engagement with traditional Chinese ink painting. A few of the artists work in quiet, contemplative modes, such as the landscape painters Li Huayi, Arnold Chang, Qiu Ting, Zeng Xiaojun and Liu Dan. Some employ the large-scale and immediate impact of global contemporary art, such as Xu Bing and Qin Feng. The others, Yu Hong, Liu Xiaodong and Li Jin, work with a keen eye for people and society. What is reflected in this group of artists, in their diverse backgrounds, and in their common connections to tradition, is a commitment to understanding the past while forging a vibrant future - a mission at the core not only of “Fresh Ink”, but of contemporary China itself. (See articles and interviews in Orientations, October 2010 issue.)

A related symposium, the annual Rockefeller Symposium of East Asian Art, will be held on 4 December at the Tsai Auditorium, Harvard University. Professor Eugene Wang, Professor Yukio Lippit and Hao Sheng will host three panels on ‘medium’, ‘gesture’ and ‘subjectivity’. All ten artists will join the discussions and curators and art historian from China and the US will be attending. The symposium is open to public and requires online registration.

Shanghai Celebration
San Francisco
California
2010

This is a San Francisco Bay Area-wide cultural initiative scheduled throughout 2010, the year that Shanghai will host a World Expo, open to all local organizations presenting Shanghai-related programmes. The celebration includes exhibitions, performances, film series, lectures, a symposium and more. The cornerstone of this celebration is the AsianArt Museum’s presentation of Shanghai (12 February – 5 September 2010).  (See articles Michael Knight, Dany Chan, Lisa Claypool and Nancy Berliner and interview with Jay Xu in Orientations, January/February 2010 issue.) Other organizations involved include the American Jewish Committee San Francisco Office,  Asia Society Northern California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, China Daily, China SF, Chinese Cultural Center of San Francisco, City Club, Contemporary Jewish Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, International Museum of Women, KQED, Lehr Judaica, San Francisco Airport Museums, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Botanical Garden Society, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Symphony,  San Jose Chamber Music Society, Society for Asian Art, SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association) and UC Berkeley, Institute of East Asian Studies.

India’s Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles
12 December 2010 - 6 March 2011
Musée National des Arts Asiatiques‑Guimet
Paris, France
13 April - 18 July 2011

The first major international exhibition devoted to the artistic heritage of the northern Indian court and city of Lucknow. A landmark presentation of the extraordinary cosmopolitan culture that flourished in the region during the 18th and 19th centuries when Lucknow emerged as a cultural capital, attracting Indian and European patrons, artists and wealth, it will consist of approximately 200 works of art in diverse media, including painted portraits, landscapes and vintage photographs by European and Indian artists, traditional Indian court paintings, sumptuous textiles and decorative art works and 20th century Hindi films that evoke the city’s legacy. While presenting the distinctive artistic traditions of Lucknow, the exhibition will also provide a framework for understanding the ways in which cultural interaction in colonial India was mediated by individuals and historical events. Several important themes are explored, including the fashioning of hybrid identities by Lucknow’s rulers and European elites. The artistic and cultural impact of the Indian Uprising of 1857-58, also know as the Sepoy Mutiny or Rebellion and The First Indian War of Independence, is an important focus of the show, which also explores the British perceptions of the event as well as the Uprising’s impact on later Indian evocations of Lucknow’s past glory.

Texture & Tradition: Japanese Woven Bamboo
Denver Art Museum
Denver, CO
Fall 2010 

This installation focuses on Japanese woven bamboo. Over 70 beautiful pieces will be displayed, including baskets, screens, trays, containers, accessories, hand warmers and a chair. Among the works on view are pieces by basket makers who have been designated Living National Treasures. 

Along the Yangzi River: Regional Cultures of the Bronze Age
China Institute Gallery
New York
1 February – 5 June 2011 

Uncover the mysterious story of the middle bank of the Yangzi River, one of the most significant cradles of Chinese civilization and a historical area for study of Chinese bronze culture. Several important excavations in the past few decades have enabled us to examine the undeveloped aspects of this culture through exquisite bronze vessels from the Hunan Provincial Museum. This exhibition will explore regional culture along the Yangzi River in three parts: the development and characteristics of regional bronzes, their function and patronage, and their cultural connection to Central China.

Second Lives: The Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles
The Textile Museum
Washington, D.C.
4 February – 10 July 2011 

Throughout the world, textiles historically held such high intrinsic value that threadbare fabrics were seldom completely discarded. This exhibition will highlight the ways people in various cultures ingeniously have repurposed worn but precious fabrics to create beautiful new textile forms. Examples include a rare sutra cover made from a 15th-century Chinese rank badge, a vest fashioned from a Pacific Northwest coast Chilkat blanket, and a large patchwork hanging from Central Asia stitched together from small scraps of silk ikat and other fabrics. Also featured are a pictorial kantha from India embroidered with threads recycled from old saris, a coat from 19th-century Japan painstakenly woven from rags, and other recycled textiles.
 

Purity of Form: The Evolution of Fukami Sueharu's Ceramics
The Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture
Hanford, California
Part 1: 5 February – 7 May 2011
Part 2: 21 May – 30 July 2011

Presenting examples from the world’s largest collection of works by the renowned Kyoto ceramic artist Fukami Sueharu.

Soaring Voices: Contemporary Japanese Women Ceramic Artists
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
Delray Beach, Florida
21 June – 2 October 2011
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art
Gainesville, Florida
15 October – 31 December 2011
Maui Arts and Culture Center
Kahului, Hawaii
October – December 2012

Featuring 86 works by 25 of Japan's most noted ceramists, the exhibition explores the accomplishments of three generations of groundbreaking female artists. Though Japan had a rich trad ition of ceramic art for thousands of years, until the 1950s, potting was strictly a male profession. The social upheaval that followed WWII enabled women to slowly enter the discipline and transform Japanese ceramics. The exhibition showcases the results of this Japanese clay revolution, through a range of masterworks dating from 1968–2007. Artists Takako Araki (1921-2004) and Kyo Tsuji (1930-) sparked considerable controversy as they struggled to break into the male-dominated field; Araki was even disowned by her family for her `irresponsibility'. Araki and Tsuji were self-taught pioneers, who established the practice of the studio potter as a creative individual working alone, outside the traditional family-run potteries. Their efforts paved the way for later generations of women to enroll in university fine art programs, and these ceramists are now among Japan’s most innovative instructors and practitioners. 

Calligraphers were and are esteemed in Islamic circles because their pens write the sacred words of the Qur’an. The attitude toward painters, however, has not always been so positive since their brushes could depict - thus create - human and animal figures, thereby challenging the sole creative authority of God. Persian poets of the 16th century countered this negative perception by describing the painter’s brush as a second qalam, equivalent to that of the calligrapher’s pen. The two qalams came together in the vibrant bookmaking workshops of the Islamic courts of Persia and India where calligraphers and painters collaborated to produce a wealth of illustrated manuscripts and elaborate albums filled with specimens of beautiful writing and painting.

Artists of Hawaii 2011: The HonoluluAcademy of Arts Juried Exhibition
The Honolulu Academy of Arts
Honolulu, Hawaii
23 June – 11 September 2011

The Academy’s  `Artists of Hawaii’ is one of the longest-running juried exhibitions in the country, showcasing the quality and diversity of art in Hawaii. This year Wu Hung (Director, Center for the Art of East Asia; Consulting Curator, Smart Museum of Art; Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor in Chinese Art History, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago) will act as the juror and will give a lecture on 16 June at 6.30 pm.

Working Title: Art of Xu Beihong, 1895-1953
Denver Art Museum
Denver, CO
Fall 2011

This is the first exhibition in North America to cover the full spectrum of work by this important artist, acclaimed by critics as the father of modern Chinese paintings. Approximately 60 works, drawn from the Xu Beihong Memorial Museum, include Chinese ink paintings, oil paintings, drawings, pastels, calligraphy. Visitors can explore Xu Beihong’s career from early works including a 1918 landscape painting, drawings and paintings created during his studies in Europe, and several of his well-known and loved horse paintings.