Chinese Culture Center guest curator Mrs.Sally Yu Leung will give two gallery talks on current exhibition Duk Duk Chaang: The Clamor and Glamour of Chinese Opera on June 22nd and June 24th, 2006. She will highlight archaeological items from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 B.C.– 220 A.D.), ritual No-Dance masks, puppets, theatrical costumes, and stage properties that represent various types of drama and periods in the development of theater and opera in China.
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Congratulations to the winners of CCC first Annual Youth Painting Competition! The paintings are on view at the 3rd Room of CCC Gallery from Feb. 11th to Mar. 18th of 2006. The Gallery opens on Tuesday to Saturday, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Free Admission.

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A Public Oral Presentation by the 2005 Roots Interns is schduled on Febuary 25th,2006 at the Chinese Culture Center Auditorium, while an exhibition will be on view from Febuary 11th to March 18th, 2006 at the CCC Gallery. To learn more about “In Search of Roots” Program, please click here.

The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco and Pacific Heritage Museum co-present an exhibition of Shiwan ceramic– Rustic Splendors: Kiln Treasures from August 26 th, 2005 through March 25th, 2006.
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Febuary 8th–May 10th, 2005

The Chinese people welcome the joyous arrival of spring with celebrations that reflect multiple aspects of its distinctive cultural traditions. Going beyond the spectacular public pageantry of colorful parades, acrobatic performers and exploding firecrackers, is an intensely private expression of cherished dreams and great expectations. The actual celebration begins on the last day of the old year as the families gather eagerly anticipating the shower of blessings the new year will bring. By then, the entire household would have been thoroughly cleaned and freshly furnished with decorations for the occasion. These furnishings are deeply rooted in traditional beliefs, local customs, and cultural practices, which reveal the hopes and fears, connected with the family’s activities for the coming year.

This exhibition highlights everyday, folk objects associated with the spring celebration. These objects symbolize the foremost concerns of the people as they strive to ensure the well-being and prosperity of their household. Pictures of door guardians posted at entrances provide protection for the family from evil influences. Images of deities from Taoist, Buddhist, and folk traditions offer personal assurances of specific blessings and safeguard from harm. Auspicious symbols convey promises for health, safety, mercy, wealth, success, and all the good things that life may bring. Illustrations of myths and fairy stories enrich their mundane lives with entertainment and provide relief from their often routine existence.

The most compelling expression deals with the depictions of harmonious relationship within the family. Fortunate is the household where several generations live together and thrive. There is a great desire for peace and harmony between the members of the household as they fulfill their respective duties exercising the ideal Confucian principles of respect and honor toward one another. Women care for the children as they supervise the household duties. Children carry the hopes and dreams for the future fortune of the family. Parents and grandparents impart their wisdom and experience to the next generations. These highly esteemed senior members are treated with extreme deference.

“Celebrating Spring: the Chinese Folk Art Way” illustrates how these great expectations can be expressed in the most colorful and creative forms. Some are articles and objects used by the family during spring celebrations as well as throughout the year. Others are pictorial representations that range from paintings to embroideries, prints to woodcuts. The most unique cultural expressions are artistic renditions of the Chinese written word to express these ideas. Featuring folk objects drawn from different regional traditions in China, this exhibition aspires to create an atmosphere of joy and optimism for everyone who enters its doors.

The Chinese Culture Center wishes to thank the lenders to this exhibition: East Asian Art Association, Man-u Imports of San Mateo, George McWilliams, Carol P. Peckham, Denise and Alan Tom. Our deepest appreciation goes to Guest Curator Mrs. Sally Yu Leung for organizing such a meaningful exhibition. Mrs. Leung, senior docent at Asian Art Museum and instructor of Chinese calligraphy for Pixar Studio, was appointed commissioner to Asian Art Museum in 1999. We also wish to thank Ms. Manni Liu for her assistance in the labels and Mrs. So Kam Ng Lee for her insightful introductory report.

Funding for this exhibition is provided by Grants for the Arts of the San Francisco Hotel Tax, members of the Chinese Culture Foundation and private donors.

展覽： 迎 春 接 福
地點： 舊金山中華文化中心
乾尼街 750號，假日旅館三樓

時間： 二零零五年二 月八日 至 四月三十日
參觀時間：上午十點 至 下午四點，週二 至 週六
免費入場

舊金山中華文化中心為慶祝中國新年﹐特別組織了深具教育意義的< 迎春接福>展。一年之計在於春。中國人傳統的迎新風俗，喜慶中蘊含獨特的文化意味。除了振耳的爆竹，五彩繽紛的花車遊行，以及各種雜技表演，人們還用多種多樣的形式，來寄托各自美好的新春祝福。除夕之夜，全家人共濟一堂，辭舊迎新的慶祝活動也就開始了。每到這時，人們都會清掃積塵，張燈結彩，把宅院點綴一新。節日裏的裝飾品，多源自當地的傳統習俗，求吉避邪，也和主人的生活事業緊密相關。

< 迎春接福>展主要展出與新春節慶有關的民間藝術品。這些作品無不體現了人們對生活平安，家業興旺的渴望和祝願。門神多挂在宅門口，以阻擋惡靈之擾。道教，佛教，及民間傳説中的神明，各司其職，消災得福。種種吉祥物，則分別象徵健康，仁愛，平安及財富等美好的願望。展品出自中國不同地區的民間藝人之手，不但包括年畫，版畫和刺繡，也有家庭日常用品。其中，取中文的諧音而寓意吉祥，則是獨特的文化表述，耐人尋味。我們衷心期待每一位觀衆都能感受展覽中喜樂祥和的氛圍。

The ancient Silk Road began in Xian, China and wound its way across deserts and mountains, ultimately to reach the Middle East, Europe and Africa. This 2,000-year-old route facilitated the exchange of goods and ideas that brought profound changes to people living on or near its passage. It played a significant role in the development of human civilization.

Although a number of exhibitions have been organized around ancient artifacts recovered along this route, Ancient Threads, Newly Woven presents for the first time little known contemporary art from these distant, multicultural provinces. This exhibit explores the work of artists living along the Northern route of the Silk Road. Beginning in Xian onto Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Urumqi and Kashgar, the area is surrounded by high mountains, harsh desert landscapes and occasional oases. It focuses on ways in which their artworks reflect the influence of the many cultures that have traversed the route over the centuries. The stunning quality of the art will surprise many viewers, as it differs markedly from what is usually thought of as traditional Chinese painting. A sense of place and pride in local culture born from multi-ethnic roots has inspired these artists, and the results are beautiful, unique and full of brilliant color.

The Chinese Culture Foundation wishes to thank Meridian International Center for the loan of this exhibition and for providing the catalog and educational materials. A special thank you to curator Nancy Matthew of Meridian International Center, and curator Xu Hong of The China International Exhibition Agency. Major funding for this exhibition is provided by the San Francisco Hotel Tax. Additional funding is provided by members of the Chinese Culture Center.

Purple Sand or “zisha” refers to the dark purplish brown stoneware associated with Yixing, China. Yixing or zisha ware, is often identified with the simple, rustic teapots that gained recognition during the late Ming period in the 16th century. Chinese tea connoisseurs consider Yixing teapots the ideal tea making vessels, noting their ability to bring forth the flavor, color and fragrance of the tea leaves. Tea tasting, along with the literary pursuits of poetry, calligraphy, and painting were highly esteemed by scholar gentry who gathered in this prosperous cultural and commercial center during the Ming (1369-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

“Purple Sand, Fragrant Tea” features over 30 outstanding contemporary artists from Yixing. Included are the works of many senior masters still active today. Many are honored as national arts and crafts masters, who have in turn taught and encouraged new generations of younger potters to perfect their craft, expand beyond conventional boundaries, and seek inspiration from new sources. The exhibition focuses on masterworks created by these young and older artists within the last four years, illustrating the vital, innovative spirit that persists in Yixing today.

Free to the public, the exhibition will be on view from July 30th to November 27th, 2004 at the Chinese Culture Center, 750 Kearny Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108. For more information, please call Mike Curtis at (415) 986-1822 or email to mike@c-c-c.org.

First Exhibition of Vintage Shanghai Posters in North America

By Wylie Wong, CCC Gallery Guest Curator

The Chinese Culture Center is pleased to present the first exhibition of vintage Shanghai posters in North America. These relics of Shanghai’s Western influenced glamour period enjoyed great popularity, which can be directly related to the birth of capitalism and early industrialism in China. Rapid development of the Chinese economy during the early decades of the 20th century made this period the golden age of Chinese poster art. The beautiful ladies depicted in rich and vibrant imaging, corresponded to the nascent middle class aspirations of an increasingly Westernized China’s urban citizens.

Shanghai was China’s first great modern city. Known as the “Paris of the East” in the early 20th century, Shanghai quickly became the center of China’s banking and commercial enterprises, the country’s greatest commercial port. The movie industry was also centered there, as were all the great artists and intellectuals, and in addition, the early advertising and graphic studios.

Foreign merchants turned to native artists to produce the paintings for their advertisements. As physical beauty has always commanded attention, in the design of the posters the advertised commodities became secondary to the beautiful lady represented. The actual commodities were often inconspicuously placed on the side or outside image frame.
Vintage Shanghai Posters or Meinu Yuefenpai in Mandarin Chinese, can be divided into two categories: Classical Beauties Posters, often representing the Four Beauties of Ancient China, and Fashionable Ladies Posters, depicting modern ladies of the Republican Era. The ladies depicted include the renowned Beijing Opera actor Mei Lanfang, and famous Chinese actresses such as Ruan Lingyu and Butterfly Wu. Most of the beautiful ladies depicted in posters, however, were fictitious. Poster artists combined idealized female features to reproduce a type of perceived physical perfection.

Intended to be calendars and displayed commercially in shops, the posters transcended their utilitarian commercial use and were displayed as works of art in homes. Combining Western realistic rendering techniques and Chinese traditional subject matter, new aspects of hybrid realism were achieved and disseminated to a receptive populist audience.

This exhibition of vintage Shanghai Meinu Yuefenpai posters is drawn entirely from local private collections. Millions of copies of advertising posters were printed in China between 1900 and 1940. War, natural disaster, heat and insects destroyed most of them. Today, these old posters are rare and highly valued by art collectors. The CCC is pleased to present this sexy glimpse into early 20th century Chinese urban life, on display January 30th to June 5th 2004, in the CCC main gallery.

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