(UPDATE: Due to popular demand, this exhibition has been extended until May 15, although not all paintings will remain on display.) A major exhibition at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) is drawing busloads of visitors as its April 10th closing draws near. The show - "Deng Tuo Donated Treasures of Ancient Chinese Paintings" – includes more than 140 ink works dating from the Song (960-1279) to the Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and is significant on multiple levels, its back-story as poignant as its art is powerful. Deng Tuo … [Read more...]
Important things on Qingming
Circumventing Censorship
On a wintry afternoon in the waning days of December, we took a cab across town to Beijing’s Olympic Badminton Center to see a rehearsal of the Beijing Dance Theater’s (BJDT) latest production.Though we were late, there was little need to tiptoe: the room reverberated with clanging bells, crashing cymbals, and pounding drums. Slender young dancers from BJDT shared the floor with weathered farmer-musicians from a rural area of Shaanxi Province. Costumed in worn indigo robes and carrying handmade masks on wooden sticks, they shouted, whistled … [Read more...]