Illustrating history: historical Chinese art comes to Canberra
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A new exhibition at the National Museum of Australia (NMA) encourages visitors to deep dive into the rich tapestry of ancient China.
If you’ve ever been intrigued by the colourful and rich history of China, the National Museum of Australia’s newest exhibition will allow you to step back in time—in the most colourful of ways.
The Historical Expression of Chinese Art: Calligraphy and Painting from the National Museum of China invites visitors to get up close and personal with some of China’s most important visual artefacts, with much of the exhibition on loan from Beijing’s National Museum of China.
The structure of the exhibition parallels the artworks themselves. Deceptively simple calligraphy stands alone in a single spotlight, its sweeping brushstrokes the only star, while across the room an immersive, gilded animation soars two stories high. Each artform is given ample appreciation, with background provided as to how they reflect China’s rich history of artistic expression.
One of the exhibition’s highlights is a vast 18th-century scroll. One of China’s most historically significant artworks, it shows the journey of Emperor Qianlong on his 1751 inspection tour of the Southern Provinces. But not only can visitors to the exhibition see a replica of 20 metres of the original scroll, they can watch it come to life in a special animation, giving viewers insight into life in both urban and rural ancient China.
Ancient Tea-Horse Road, 2010, by Wang Naizhuang. National Museum of China.
As NMA Director Dr Mathew Trinca explains, this is the first time that many of these major works have been shown in Australia.
“Australian audiences will be both enchanted by the sweeping animated experience at the heart of the show, which brings historical figures to life before their eyes, and be delighted by the vitality and beauty of ink painting today, with its connections to centuries old traditions of calligraphy,” he says.
It’s this balance between the old and the new that Dr Trinca says is a key focus of the exhibition, with the aforementioned scrolls and calligraphy sitting alongside paintings from modern Chinese artists Xie Yun, Xiao Lang and Wang Naizhuang.
Mountain, 1995, by Xie Yun. National Museum of China.
As Deputy Director of the National Museum of China Mr Shan Wei explains, educating the world on the diversity of Chinese art—both historical and modern—is essential for a well-rounded understanding of Chinese culture.
“Through this exhibition, we hope to share with the Australian audience the artistic interpretation of Chinese painting and calligraphy on history and life, the aesthetic concept contained in it, the spiritual pursuit embodied in it, and the philosophy of life of Taoism and nature,” he says.
No other piece of artwork cements this broad understanding better than the exhibition’s final section, where visitors will see contemporary and ancient China collide in the form of a modern-day storytelling scroll.
The bustling capital, a detail from The Emperor Departs from Beijing, the first scroll in the series Emperor Qianlong’s Southern Inspection Tour, 1770s. National Museum of China.
Harvest of Endurance: A History of the Chinese in Australia 1788-1988 is a 50-metre handscroll, of which eight meters is on display. Painted in the traditional ‘gong-bi’ style, instead of depicting ancient Chinese events it details Chinese-Australian relations from the late 18th century until the 1980s, showing the friendship, appreciation and respect between our two cultures. It’s this same respect and friendship that allows us to see such visual treasures at the NMA, but don’t wait—the exhibition will close its doors on 28 July.
the essentials
What: The Historical Expression of Chinese Art: Calligraphy and Painting from the National Museum of China
When: Showing until 28 July 2019. Opening hours 9 am – 5 pm daily
Where: National Museum of Australia, Lawson Crescent, Acton
Cost: Free
More information: nma.gov.au/exhibitions/the-historical-expression-of-chinese-art
Images supplied.
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