The Chinese Culture Center is proud to present One Root: One Love, an exhibition of photos, artifacts and visual impressions from 2011 In Search of Roots Intern’s trip to China.  There will be a ribbon cutting involving important partners who have supported In Search of Roots over the years, followed by the highlight of the afternoon:  the presentations by the Roots participants themselves.

舊金山中華文化中心隆重向您呈現《同根,同心》年展。此展的目的是通過資料，實物和藝術表現方式展現中華文化中心2011年度“尋根之旅”項目的中國行. 剪綵儀式嘉賓將包括常年不懈支持“尋根之旅”項目的各方合作夥伴。剪綵儀式后將進行的是開展慶典的重頭戲：“尋根之旅”學員的報告會.

Exhibition and Presentation: February 18 from 12:30 to 3:00 pm    二月十八日下午12時30分至三時

On display through February 25.

CCC Gallery Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 4pm.

 Students from Starr King Elementary school, a bilingual Mandarin immersion school, visit the CCC Gallery and In Search of Roots Exhibition

Watch the Chinese Culture Center’s In Search of Roots feature on KTVU.

Look for each of our In Search of Roots Interns’ essays in the Sunday Edition of Sing Tao Daily.

CCC Curator and Deputy Director Abby Chen has opened a show in Shanghai. Titled with the Mandarin-English homophone WOMEN我們, meaning both ‘women’ and ‘we,’ the show focuses on works by feminist and gender queer artists, and is one of the first of its kind in Shanghai.

Women 我們 features 13 artists, including Xian Rui 2010′s Stella Zhang and current CCC gallery featured artist Mu Xi, and one group work. On view in Shanghai through January 10 at EMG Gallery, in conjunction with the conference “International Chinese Women and Visual Representation,” held by Fudan University and University of Michigan.

The exhibition received rave reviews from Global Times and East Morning Daily:

  “Extending imagination,” Hu Bei, Drawing Their Own Conclusions, Global Times, 12/25/2011

“展现了女性主义多样的角度和丰富的肌理,” 朱洁树，千面女性 千种主义，东方早报，12/26/11

Opening Night

The Chinese Culture Center is excited to announce the first U.S. exhibition of Guangzhou-based artist Liu Yin. Liu explores the anxieties and confusions of love, nature, and consumerism in modern life. Her bright and cartoon-like paintings and drawings create an ambiguity around one’s relationship to these sometimes alienating notions. Liu has previously exhibited in China, Italy, Germany, and Sweden. Her exhibition “Liu Yin: Oh, Chinese Boy… Don’t Be Ashamed” opens on October 27 and is on view through December 31. All works are for sale and reasonably priced. From Guangzhou, Liu Lin explores the anxieties and confusions of love, nature, and consumerism in modern life. Her bright and cartoon-like paintings and drawings create an ambiguity around one’s relationship to these sometimes alienating notions. Liu has exhibited in China, Italy, Germany, and Sweden. This is her first show in the United States.

“Liu Yin: Oh, Chinese Boy… Don’t Be Ashamed…” is curated by Jenny Leung and Matthew Harrison Tedford.

The Chinese Culture Center gallery is open from 10am to 4pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays.

無論是大眾媒體乃至商品文化，來自廣州的藝術家劉茵透過模糊與荒謬的黑暗手法反映了現代大都市生活。女學生對愛情的緊張通過素描與油畫是否呈現了真實的痛苦、亦或這只不過是一個十幾歲青少年所自導的滑稽情景喜劇？在這些作品中的“花朵腦袋男孩”可稱之為“情為何物”的美化版本，是只有戀愛中的青少年與電視製片人的腦袋裡能想像出來的事物。然而，從另一個以男孩為主題的作品這兒、我們卻可悲慘地看到開胸剜心的畫面！

大自然似乎與道義之間有著敵對的矛盾。在這系列作品中，枯萎的植物、不祥的魚與孤獨的島所代表的是唯一完全自然的環境。但是，在自然之中卻能夠模糊地發現、唯物主義是沒有緩刑的。消費主義的碎屑產生了一種與現代世界之間不太確定的共生。果汁盒不確定地洩漏著糖精及美味的汁液或者人血。

然而，這對她的環境來說卻又提供了一種脆弱的關係，劉茵的作品並不煽動絕望或恐懼。卡通般的字符與華麗色彩的渲染瀰漫著憂鬱而又溫暖的心。戲劇性的愛情、隔離的自然與異化的商品， 甚至被切斷而丟失的頭顱，透過劉茵的筆觸，都化作了一縷輕快與平易近人。

梁凱欣 與 譚馬修
助理策展人

Preview: “It’ll all be laid out through clever, quirky and cartoonish paintings.” – Lily Ko, SF Station

“Titled ‘Oh, Chinese Boy … Don’t Be Ashamed …,’ it consists of 12 paintings that form a cartoon story of schoolgirl romance.” – Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle

To see Liu Yin’s past work, visit her gallery below:

Find more images like this on Chinese Culture Foundation Artist Network

From Then ‘Til Now: 46^th Anniversary Auction Showcase

The Chinese Culture Center is proud to present From Then ‘Til Now: 46^th Anniversary Auction Showcase, running from September 25 through October 15.

Marking 46 years of the Chinese Culture Center’s visual arts programming, From Then ‘Til Now celebrates the partnerships and individuals who have made CCC the vibrant destination for arts and culture that it is today. Collected with donors, artists, and the Chinatown community, each piece reflects a unique moment in the Center’s history and artistic development, and will be available both for on-site auction and immediate purchase.

We will feature paintings, vintage woodblock prints, sculptures, and photography as well as adornments and artifacts from four decades of CCC history. Its years of reach contextualizes the Center as a cornerstone of San Francisco’s evolving culture and Chinese community, and walks viewers through the journey from past to present. Artists include Jian Hai Zhao (aka Pop Zhao), Mo Che, Julia Nee Chu, C.J. Yao, Hei Han Khiang, Tsung Woo Han, and many others.

Experience the richness of 46 years in three weeks! From Then ‘Til Now opens alongside the Center’s second annual Chinatown Music Festival and runs through October 15, the night of the Center’s 46^th anniversary gala, Harmony and Bliss.

All proceeds from the exhibition will benefit the Chinese Culture Center’s 2012 arts programs and public events.

Due to popular demand, the CCC is extending the tenure of Zheng Chongbin’s White Ink in the CCC Gallery. This 2011 installment of CCC’s Xian Rui Artists Series has received rave reviews and initiated unprecedented momentum for this partnership between center and artist. Don’t miss this groundbreaking show!

What critics are saying about White Ink:

“The paintings… make you think about the continuing march of abstract painting, and the rising power of bicultural artists like Zheng who combine and transcend disparate traditions.” –Tamara Straus, San Francisco Chronicle

“He has invented a style that has been hailed as “unprecedented.” –Paul Liberatore, Marin Independent Journal

“The flowing forms… invite the viewer’s imagination to wander into and through them.” –Mark Van Proyen, Art in America

“He manages to create a supernatural atmosphere on the paper as if it is framed by nature or spirit.” –Abby Chen

“San Francisco-based Zheng Chongbin … turns the Chinese ink aesthetic on its head with bold, visceral abstract paintings.” –Christopher DeWolf, CNN

“His paintings push the possibilities of ink as a medium while at the same time challenging the boundaries of abstract painting.” – Dr. Shen Kuiyi, Yishu Journal, July/August 2011

“Zheng’s works mingle the past and present, granting glimpses of realities studied, seen and envisioned that burn brilliantly with poetry, poignancy, and power.”
–Collette Chattopadhyay, Yishu Journal, July/August 2011

Stretching from 704 to 710 Kearny Street, the 2011 storefronts include original work from acclaimed Bay Area artists Stella Zhang and Feng Jin. Unique to this installment is the artists’ use of the spaces as an extension of the concurrent Daily Lives exhibition at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, which opened on February 29 as a partnership between the CCC and YBCA.

In the words of curator Kwai Mei Manor, this exhibition takes “art out of the gallery and into the streets, [making it] public and on view for everyone.” The project brings visibility to economic implications of stores without merchants, and to the innovative work of artists from the community to revitalize these empty spaces.

Re-imagining the public and private, Stella Zhang creates a fluid display of shape and form, only to discover the secrets that lay behind closed doors. Feng Jin creates a false storefront filled with Chinese character-like forms, as an examination of art transmitted through language. This exhibition challenges the viewer to interact with art and concept on their daily comings and goings on the street. Art-In-Storefront looks at the empty storefront, or vacant city space, as a venue for dialogue and esthetic appreciation.

街頭藝術

作為一個致力於把藝術帶進公眾視野來喚醒並複興舊金山被遺忘的城市空間的項目，街頭藝術正捲土重來！

在克尼街704號至710號，2011年的店面創意中就包括來自舊金山灣區知名藝術家張爽和金鋒的原創作品。值得一提的是，這些作品同時在2月29號開幕的芳草地藝術中心（YBCA）舉辦的日常生活展上展出，這是舊金山中華文化中心與芳草地藝術中心合作的延伸。
據策展人所言，這次展覽“把藝術館裡的展品搬到了大街上，給公眾提供了一個品味藝術的舞台”。此項目不含商品而給商店帶來了廣泛的經濟效應，並讓更多的人們看到了社區藝術家們為了復興空置店鋪而做出的創意。
張爽創造了一個流動形式的展品，重新定義了公共和隱私的界限，只是為了發現門背後的秘密。金鋒則設計了充滿虛假字符的店面，通過文字對傳播的藝術進行考驗。本次展覽讓觀眾們在街頭穿梭之際就與藝術產生了互動。街頭藝術的目標就是把空蕩蕩的門面或城市閒置空間作為一個談話及欣賞美的場所。

Artists Statements

Stella Zhang
Space

I’m always interested in exploring an object’s soul and expressing its essence. I also relate to what is happening in daily life. Displaying objects from daily life could be insipid, but I attempt to create multiple layers of impressions by paying special attention to details, multiplicity, and space. The space created realms between counterfeit and reality; public and private. Consequently, the discovery of this space by those who pass the store front will be as individual as the beholder’s imagination and private associations with the objects.

 

 

 

 

空间  张爽

我所关注的是日常生活。我对事物的本质认识与挖掘总怀有浓厚的兴趣。对于物件的视觉表现可以采用平凡的素材，但我希望能创造多种层次的解读可能性，这种解读取决于对于整体空间，以及细节的特别关注角度与感觉。
我试图创造一个介于假想与真实；公共与私密之间的空间。对于这个空间的定义在于经过这个作品的人用什麽样的方式去观察和联想它。

 

Feng Jin
click here to see Feng Jin’s creative process

As a sculptor, I would like to use my art form to describe a different type of art form that has a strong attachment with language and writing. People are familiar with an idea that most philosophical thoughts are delivered through out words and language. Maybe one day a certain art form can alternate the language and do the same job as a major communication tool.

I want my audiences to purely enjoy these “character-like sculpture” aesthetically, not to be limited to figuring out what do these pieces look like whatsoever or the actual meaning behind. I also intend to give native Chinese audiences to re-think the stereotypical meanings of our language, the language that we use everyday even if we come to a foreign country. Can art deliver messages to people from all around the world without translation (or a statement)? Can people see art without ideology behind?

I am still seeking the Tao of art. I know it should be something for you to sense, something that is just unspeakable.

創作自述                           ◎金鋒

作為一個雕塑家，我想用我的藝術形式來描述一種不同類型的藝術形式、一種對文字和語言相關的探討。人們都熟悉一個想法，即大部分的哲學思想都是透過文字和語言來溝通的。而做為藝術家最想看到的事情應該是：也許有一天，某些特定的藝術形式也可以替代語言，作為主要的溝通工具。

 

 

 

我希望我的觀眾，純粹享受這些“字狀雕塑”的美感，而不是受限於想弄清楚這些作品代表著什麼樣的文字形體或任何實質上的意義。我也希望、能透過作品讓懂得中文的觀眾重新思考我們母語，一個即使我們到了外國、也在日常中使用的語言，它在中西方人眼中有著什麼樣的刻板形象？藝術是否能在不提供語言文字“翻譯”（或陳述，就像您現在在看的這一篇文章這樣）情況下仍能與來自世界各地的人溝通？人們是否能夠用沒有意識形態的眼睛去看藝術？
我仍然在尋求我的藝術之道。我知道，這應該是一種只能意會、而有時候“不可說”的東西。

This year the CCC’s XianRui (Fresharp) series features the work of abstract ink painter Zheng Chongbin.  The highly anticipated show is comprised of fifteen new and site-specific large scale pieces, which include both paintings and video projections.

Zheng’s work has been hailed as ‘unprecedented,’ and embodies the essence of traditional Chinese ink painting as well as the physicality of western abstract traditions. His work conveys both movement and serenity, making the experience of them at once timeless and dynamic.

From Curator Abby Chen:

To say traditional ink painting is Zheng’s home of craft and artistry is no exaggeration. The dislocation from China to the U.S. was a catalyst of his transformation, and the choice he made to go into different genre was an intentional and a conscious one. The willingness and the ability to disengage from the familiarity, and to reconnect back to the root culture after the odyssey, have positioned Zheng as an instrument of cultural translation, which in itself has taken both cultures further to a new present. The presence of ink in these paintings almost resembles the identity of the painter himself and his methodology: in the early works, it has to be loud, direct, and raw; then it mixes, fades, and disappears. It feels to me that he initially needed to forcefully, almost recklessly, dash out in order to rebel and break free, and later subtly, gently, and even secretly pan out, infiltrate, and dominate. What Zheng has managed to achieve from this process is evident and crucial to his artistic development, as well as to the actual practice of what it means to be a Chinese artist in America. White Ink presents a visual overlap, which allows for receiving both forms, without a prior knowledge of one or the other. The energy flow Zheng generates with this exhibition actualizes a process of transformation that denotes Xian Rui’s founding goal: to offer a fresh and sharp perspective that provides new possibilities of thinking about not just Chinese culture, but culture at large, through the lens of an individual artist.

 

如果說傳統水墨畫是鄭重賓藝術生命的家鄉也毫不誇張。從中國到美國的遷徙是他發生蛻變的催化劑，而嘗試不同的藝術類型體現了他主觀的藝術行為。他有意願亦有能力與過去的既定框架進行分離，又在“遠行”之後回歸本源，這種經歷讓他具有更加深入的文化詮釋能力，為兩種文化帶來新的表現形式。其水墨的藝術表達揭示的是畫家對自身認識和繪畫方式的轉變：早期的作品如吶喊，直接，毫不掩飾；後期則混沌，淡然，甚至消失不見。他最初以強烈甚至略顯魯莽的方式擺脫束縛和尋求自由，而後以微妙，溫和甚至隱秘的方式回歸，滲透和駕馭。這種變化對鄭重賓的藝術昇華至關重要，因為它恰恰印證了一位華人藝術家在美國的蛻變過程。 《白墨／White Ink》從視覺上展現兩種風格的重疊，讓觀者在無須精通任何一種形式的前提下，同時感知和體驗水墨和抽象藝術。鄭重賓在本次展覽上所營造出的氛圍和展現出的創新詮釋了成立鮮銳（Xian Rui）年度項目的初衷：鮮活元素和犀利視角的藝術化呈現，通過藝術家個人的視野為中華文化乃至更廣闊領域的文化提供新的可能性。

 

White Ink is on view Tuesdays – Saturdays 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Chinese Culture Center, 750 Kearny St., 3^rd Floor (inside the Hilton Hotel). Admission to the gallery is free.
From June 18- July 17, White Ink will also be on display at the Silicon Valley Asian Art Center in Santa Clara.

Copies of the White Ink Catalog will be on sale in the CCC gallery.

Read reviews of White Ink and artist Zheng Chongbin (click on logos for articles)

Daily Lives 日常生活 is an exhibition that considers the question of material objects in everyday life. Inspired by artist Song Dong’s investigations of family, consumerism, and the small meditative moments that punctuate an ordinary life, Daily Lives is a group exhibition curated by Abby Chen and borne of a collaboration between Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Chinese Culture Center. Featuring the mixed media work of local and beyond Asian-American artists Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik, Jennifer Ewing, Cynthia Tom, Liu Xianbiao, Imin Yeh and Stella Zhang, Daily Lives examines the reality and occasional sublimity of everyday existence through a variety of sensory experiences. Temporarily but officially, the Room for Big Ideas exists as an extension of the Chinese Culture Center: a reciprocal arrangement that locally reprises and re-contextualizes thematic and formal elements of Song Dong’s exhibit while charting new territory in the investigation of ephemera and memory. Curated by Chinese Culture Center’s Artistic Director Abby Chen.

        日常生活展是一個將目光聚焦於每日生活物品的展覽。藝術家宋東曾經研究家庭、消費主義、及冥想時刻這些滲入平常生活的細節，這激發了一批人的靈感。於是，由陳暢（Abby Chen）策劃及主導，芳草地藝術中心和中華文化中心共同舉辦了日常生活展。來自舊金山灣區及中國大陸的藝術家們Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik, Jennifer Ewing, Cynthia Tom, 劉賢標, 葉艾明和張爽，他們通過視覺感受每一天的真實和微妙。同時，芳草地藝術中心和舊金山中華文化中心暫時卻官方為他們做出了延伸：在當地複興並重新定義宋東展裡的主題和元素，同時開拓新的領域，從而達成互動的新知。 （由中華文化中心藝術總監陳暢（Abby Chen）創立）

Artist Statements   藝術家的話

Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik, Close to Home

What can we sniff out with our noses? Odors are linked to survival, memory, and our perception of difference. As invisible signifiers, what role do the senses play in our formation and recognition of each other? How do we taste, smell, and touch, and what are the politics of the senses? In my work as an installation artist, I explore how these themes are evidenced in the fleeting materials we consume every day. Food and scent are unruly substances — pervasive and polarizing. My materials do not want to be archived. I have to chase them down and sweep them up. It is partially for these reasons that the senses have been placed in a hierarchy: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. So what happens when I ask you to taste and smell art as much as you see it? As a strategy for engagement and shifting the relationship between the artist and viewer to artist and participant, my work is often site specific, rooted in and shaped by its location. But how do we define location in an age of diaspora and globalization? I am also interested in tracing movement: the movements we make today and the movements we’ve made for centuries. If globalization has been a long time in the making, how does it shape our experiences of home? I want my work to be challenging and impractical; I want art to ask questions.
http://sitabhaumik.com/artwork/1816726_Sweet_Sour_Salty_Bitter_Curry.html

Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik    親近家園
如果沒有鼻子我們能嗅出什麼呢？味道與生存、記憶、以及看法的差異緊密相連。對於那些無形的跡象，感知在我們對它們的識別時起什麼作用呢？我們是如何品嚐、嗅和触摸的？感知的法則是什麼？作為一個裝置藝術家，我在每天消耗的快速消費品中，發現了這些問題的答案。食物和氣味是四處飄散分化的。我並不想保留把我的物品，我想追逐、除去它們。這說明了為什麼在某種程度上感知是按等級劃分的，依次為：視覺、聽覺、嗅覺、味覺和触覺。假如我讓你不僅觀看藝術，同時品嚐並聞到藝術，如何？為了讓藝術家和觀賞者的關係轉變為藝術家與參與者，我常常根據特定空間創作，以求達到某種互動。但是如何定義一個疏散和全球化並存的時代呢？我也喜歡追尋動態：我們今天的動態和幾千年來的動態。如果全球化已經存在多時，這如何營造我們對家的體驗？我需要我的作品具有挑戰性、不切實際，因為我希望藝術可以提出問題。

Cynthia Tom: Stories to Tell: Discards and Variances

In a country where so much is wasted, artists use this readily available media to reinterpret how we interact with the world around us. Cynthia Tom explores the stories of discarded humans of the past and brings attention to the ones in her present. Using little pillows and personal paintings she pays homage to those everyday items and individuals discarded by families and society. As a counterpoint to these stories, the hopefulness and concept of “journey” that Jennifer Ewing’s spirit boats bring create points of imagination, delight and healing. We are transported by their installation from inside YBCA and out.  http://www.cynthiatom.com/

Cynthia Tom    關於拋棄和多樣的故事
在這個浪費現象無處不在的國度，藝術家們利用他們能用的媒體資源來重新解釋我們是如何與世界互動的。 Cynthia Tom創造了一個故事，關於過去的已經被遺忘的人們，以及現在的人們。用枕頭和自己的畫作，她向被家庭社會拋棄的日常用品和個人感到悲哀。 Jennifer Ewing “旅程”作品中帶來希望的精神之船，應用了想像、愉悅和治愈這些點對應這些故事。芳草地藝術中心內部和外部的展出，傳達著我們的思想。

Liu Xianbiao, The Road

This work is more than the footage of people’s mobility on the road; it’s the living of everyday life on the road. This is a set of images shot    on Southwest China Road, recording people in the midst of the rapid development of Chinese society. The variety of people and  vehicles on the road express views on these fast-changing times. People, despite a difficult life, put all their effort toward their own ideals. They yearn for a better life, but is this development the direction we want to follow? If so, what will become of the poetic landscape?  http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/8828775-1285722970.html

 

劉賢標    路
這部作品想要表達的比路上行走的人們多得多。這是一幅真實的每日街景。這組照片拍攝於中國西南路，記錄了處於快速發展的中國社會中的人們。人和交通工具的多樣化展示了這個日新月異的時代。儘管生活艱苦，人們為自己的理想作出了所有努力。他們渴望讓生活更美好，然而這些發展是在引領我們走向更美好的生活的方向嗎？如果是這樣，詩意的美景將由何取代？

Imin Yeh, Good Imports

Good Imports is a collection of found objects that have been discarded. These objects have been wrapped in the style of fabric reserved for the cloth-covered boxes that house the “good imports” from China: teapots, medicine balls, mah-jong games and stone seal sets. The fabric is individually hand printed and then swathed around the objects, removing their function and turning them into “non-threatening” sculptural objects.  http://iminyeh.info/

葉艾明   優質進口商品
優質進口商品是一組被發現同時也已經被遺棄的物品的集合。這些物品都用絲綢包裝，保存於布料做成的包裝盒裡，在中國作為優質產品被進口。這些物品包括茶壺、藥丸、麻將和石頭印章。這些用於包裹的絲綢都是手工編織，它們已失去了原有的功能，變成純粹的雕塑般的物品。

Stella Zhang, STUFF

Creating art is a process of self-examination, and this process enables me to collect my thoughts. We live in complex time that is in many ways defined by excessive want, greed, and waste. We all pursue a good life, but in this pursuit, do we really have choices? Without recognizing or aspiring to a specific destination, my art is a record of everyday life. This gives me an opportunity to look at myself more closely.
We all react to materials, whether we find them attractive or frightening. The desire for stuff makes one greedy and afraid at same time. We privilege finished commodities, but not how they are packaged. We shop at Safeway, but care little for the plastic shopping bags (unless we save them to collect more garbage). We ignore the cardboard used for packaging many of the goods we consume. We are overflowing with stuff, but this stuff must be made available to us and it has to be packaged. This packaging embodies a history and its own special language. Releasing plastic bags and cardboard from useless connections to human character enables one to redefine them. Perhaps they point to new concepts. Maybe their individual qualities have been neglected with the development of the consumer society. These objects contain many meanings that overlap. They represent our lifestyles. Damage, chaos, survival, and fragility define their relationship with humans. Faith and doubt are expressed in the objects illustrating the relationships between complexity and balance, order and disorder, attraction and repulsion. www.stellazhang.com

張爽   物品

藝術創作是自我審視的一個過程，讓我能夠匯集我的思想。我們生活在一個複雜的時代，過度的慾望、貪婪、浪費在許多方面體現。我們都在追求美好生活，但是在追尋過程中，我們真的有選擇嗎？我記錄的是日常生活，而非鼓舞人心的生活終點。這給了我一個機會，一個更近地審視自己的機會。
無論吸引的或恐怖的物質，我們都會有所反應。對於物質的渴求讓人們變得貪婪，同時變得害怕。我們享受商品，但不關心他們如何被打包。我們安全消費，卻很少收集塑料袋（除非我們想用它們收集更多的垃圾）。我們也直接忽略那些用於包裝的紙板。我們過多地消耗物品，所有物品在使用之後都要被打包、毀棄。包裹可以展示一段歷史，因為它有自己的語言。將無用的塑料袋和紙板箱變成人類的一種特質，可以讓人們重新定義它們。也許他們的本質被快速發展的社會掩蓋了。這些物品包含太多含義，他們代表了我們的生活方式。毀滅、混亂、生存、脆弱可以用來定義他們和人的關係。信任和懷疑在表達複雜和平衡、規則與混亂、吸引和排斥的物品中體現。

2009-2010 Roots Interns during their trip through their ancestral villages

On Saturday February 5th 2011 at 2pm, we will be celebrating the opening of our In Search of Roots Program’s exhibition opening. This exhibition is the anthology of the 2009-2010 Roots interns’ explorations and discoveries, and narrates a search for a self-made personal identity that evolves beyond mere recorded history. An understanding of this history, however, allows us to contextualize the powerful impact of heritage upon a dynamic twenty first century identity. Join the CCC in support of the Roots interns’ continued exploration of this cultural discourse, and experience their journey firsthand.

For twenty years, the Roots program has assisted young Americans of Chinese ancestry in their search for a greater appreciation and understanding of their complex identity. Each year, teams of interns engage this task via genealogical research and self-study. Interns begin the yearlong process by researching their own origins in the histories of the people of the Pearl River Delta and Chaoshan regions of Guangdong Province, and the generations of migration to the United States. Interviews with family members and research at the National Archives in San Bruno allows each intern to sketch an image of their ancestral family and of the individuals and events that through family history, Diaspora, and individual choice shaped each intern’s own unique, contemporary identity. This research and study comes full circle during a journey to interns’ ancestral villages in China. Often complex and emotionally overwhelming, this process helps dwarf the gap between past and present, and puts into personal perspective the continuity of an individual journey reflected against that of an entire culture.

Update: The Roots Exhibition is up, running, and getting rave reviews! Check out the Rooters’ creative process here: http://tinyurl.com/4nfua6x
The In Search of Roots Exhibition is open in the CCC gallery until April 20th. The gallery is open from 10am until 4pm Tuesday Through Saturday.

The CCC is proud to present Pat Tseng’s newest gallery exhibit, “Emblems of Ethereal Grace,” opening September 25, 2010. Timeless, exquisite and subtle, Pat Tseng’s work defies categorization: it is both jewelry and fine art. Her work has been exhibited in museums such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, and also in retail venues ranging from Saks Fifth Avenue to the Smithsonian.

Her work combines contemporary craft and ageless artifact, using novel silk knotting techniques and patterns and integrating ancient Chinese jade, jewels, and carvings. The adornments in this particular exhibition represent the mature work of the artist at her best.

Emblems of Ethereal Grace will be on view Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11am to 4pm at the Chinese Culture Center Gallery, 750 Kearny St., 3rd floor. Admission to the gallery is free. For more information, please call 415-986-1822, or email info@c-c-c.org.