Some works are rotating out of Galleries 211-212 and G243.
Attached are the works being deinstalled:
And attached are the works taking their place:
No changes are happening to G213 at this time.
Some Hmong visitors feel that Miao is a pejorative term for the ethnic group in China to whom they are related. In response, Curator Yang Liu has provided the following information. If you encounter any questions or concerns on tours, please let us know.
Per Curator Yang Liu:
“The costumes and silver ornaments… belong to the ethnic group living in China’s Guizhou and Hunan provinces. These people are known as ‘Miao’ in China – that is not only the term used in Chinese official classification of the minorities, but also the self-designation of these people. I have visited these regions many times and know that they have no feeling that Hmong is in any way preferable to them as a common designator. No contemporary Chinese will feel that ‘Miao’ contains a sign of disrespect in any way, as the basic meaning of the word ‘miao’ in Chinese is ‘young plant’.
Although there are different opinions, some Western scholars propose that the term Hmong be used only for designating the Miao groups speaking the Hmong dialect in China (very small group) and for the Miao outside China. According to Joakim Enwall, Professor of Chinese, Uppsala University, it is these non-Chinese Hmong living outside China who advocate that the term Hmong be used not only for designating their dialect group, but also for the other groups living in China.”
Yang has also provided an article that discusses this further:
As we know, sometimes visitors just wish to express concerns, to be heard, and they may not agree with the museum’s choice of terminology. In those cases, it is good to encourage visitors to complete a comment card if they wish to receive a direct response from museum staff.
From your colleague Manju Parikh, this article: Open-source encyclopedia puts 10,000 years of Indian art history in one place
and a link to the new open source encyclopedia:
From your colleague Linda Krueger, a synopsis of her popular and informative tour on Chinese landscape painting:
Prosperity Gate Art Story (Word document)
Gate-Art-Story (PDF)
We’ll continue to post materials to help prepare for the salon conversations and art cart use during the special exhibition Power and Beauty in China’s Last Dynasty: Concept and Design by Robert Wilson. Videos of various trainings will also be linked on this page.
The arts of the Chinese Qing court rivaled that of Europe’s great kingdoms. This opulence served to affirm imperial power and prestige, and also as stagecraft for the emperor’s leading role as “son of heaven.” “Power and Beauty in China’s Last Dynasty” presents treasures from the museum’s renowned collection of Chinese art, including rare court costumes, jades, lacquers, paintings, and sculpture. Mia’s curator of Chinese art, Liu Yang, has collaborated with celebrated artist, director, and New York-based stage designer Robert Wilson to create an experiential exhibition that engages the senses and evokes the otherworldly, intoxicating—and even dangerous—world of the Qing (pronounced “ch’ing”) court (1644–1912).
Here is the initial press release, announcing the show:
Power-and-Beauty-Press-Release
Here is a PDF of Liu Yang’s article on the exhibition:
Power and Beauty final Liu Yang
Pronunciation guide for article (courtesy of Mingjen Chen):
and here is the gallery map from that article (but please note, it is not quite final):
Here is the exhibition checklist, with small photos of the objects:
Power and Beauty in China’s Last Dynasty_Exhibition Checklist.docx
Here is the PDF of Matthew Welch’s article:
Here is the video of the training session with Michael Lapthorn, exhibition designer, on December 13, 2017:
Power and Beauty info session with Michael Lapthorn
Videos of the training session on January 11, 2018:
Video of the training session by Liu Yang, on February 8, 2018:
Online resources for learning more about Robert Wilson and his work are located in the Resource document at the end of this post.
Here are the scents being used in the galleries:
Some refreshers on Daoism and Confucianism:
For a refresher on the Ming/Qing Dynasties, here are materials from the last docent class, a recorded video, the PPT for the lecture, and the lecture handouts, including a great handout on Chinese robes!
Video links to Ming and Qing Dynasty lecture
Imperial-Chinese-Court-robes-of-the-Qing-Dynasty-1644
For a refresher on Buddhism, here is a PDF of lecture slides, with good information on the origins of Buddhism:
Here is a general overview and best practices for Art Cart facilitation:
110324_Introduction to Art Carts_General
And here are some links (each is a separate document) for additional handouts from art cart training:
1. Inkstone; 2. Silk Worms; 3. Bird cage; 4. Cricket Cage_ Power & Beauty; 5. Dǒugǒng; 6. Lacquer Box with Carved décor; 7. P&B Ancient Bronze Vessel; 8. P&B Calligraphy and Writing Implements; 9. P&B Pair of Jade Carved Ducks and Raw Jade; 10. 8 Daoist Immortals; 11. P&B Imperial Chinese Court Robe; 12. P&B Seated Buddha statue; 13. P&B Cloisonne Vase_ Power & Beauty ; 14. P&B 500 Lohans; 15. Buddha Diagram; 16. P&B Silk Cocoons; 17. P&B porcelain vase
Here are the PDFs with the details of the Imperial Robe symbols. These are from the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, from an exhibition on Chinese textiles:
And here is the entire manual for the China art cart, with the new objects:
Power and Beauty Art Cart Manual
Here is the video of the China Art Cart training on 2/17/18:
China Art Cart training for Power and Beauty
Sample questions, pre-visit and post-visit, for Stop And Chat:
Stop & Chat discussion questions
FAQ for Power and Beauty:
Fact Sheet for Docents and Guides:
Fact Sheet for docents and guides
Finally, here is a Resource document, with links to online articles and videos that pertain to the exhibition. We will continue to add resources to this document and post revised versions. If you find an article or video to share, please email information to Kara (kzumbahlen@artsmia.org):
Resources for Power and Beauty 02.27.18
In this session, we had a presentation from Padma Maitland, our new curator of South and Southeast Asian Art. He mentioned a great exhibition that was held at the Smithsonian a few years ago, on Puja, and here is a link to the educators’ guide. If you click to the second chapter, you will find some great background information on this Hindu practice of reverence:
We have further online resources for China and South and Southeast Asia located under Research Resources/Online Resources. Scroll down the results to find more educator guides and other online information.
Here is a transcription of the ideas developed during the team tour and theme discussion:
From docents Fran Megarry and Debbie Koller, here is a short video that shows the sand painting of a Tibetan mandala:
Tibetan Monks Create Sand Mandala at Clark College in Vancover, WA
(We also have that tool shown in the video in the prop box in the guide lounge.)
