Asia House & Bagri Foundation sponsor the Asian Literature Festival , September – November 2019, at locations across London.
Includes a talk by Jung Chang on her new biography about the Soong sisters: Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister.
An interesting BBC radio programme on the Soongs is available as a podcast.
Modern Art is not always to everyone’s taste, but has some intriguing elements. In this exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Gu Wenda‘s tent-like construction of human hair is particularly intriguing. A previous project, Ink Alchemy, used powdered human hair, which is used as a medical treatment for anxiety. Another exhibit, Lin Tianmiao’s Day-Dreamer, uses white threads falling from a human image.
Meanwhile, Ed Hardy, a USA tattoo artist, has a show which includes his painting of 2000 Dragons, each one numbered in Chinese, and inspired by Chen Rong’s “Nine Dragons” (Song Dynasty, 1244). You can scroll through that wonderful painting here.
An exhibition at Blain|Southern London 19 July — 14 September 2019 of work by Qin Feng and Ed Moses apparently bridges “the ancient Chinese meditation of ink and the modern practice of action painting.” Qing Feng talks about his “post-modern ink style.”
The CBPS AGM 2019 will be on Saturday 2 November, hosted by the Yorkshire Group at Pool-in-Wharfedale Village Memorial Hall, Arthington Lane, Pool-in-Wharfedale, LS21 1LG.
As well as the AGM meeting (11am) there will be stalls of CBP materials and books, an afternoon talk on the history of Chinese art by CBPS Honorary President Qu Leilei, a recital of Chinese music and evening activities.
On the Sunday, the Yorkshire Group are organising a workshop with Qu Leilei.
Full details and booking form will be sent out with the October Newsletter.
Modern Chinese paintings at the 3812 Gallery until 17 August 2019. Includes a work by CBPS Honorary President Qu Leilei.
An exhibition at Blain|Southern London 19 July — 14 September 2019 of work by Qin Feng and Ed Moses apparently bridges “the ancient Chinese meditation of ink and the modern practice of action painting.”
Ashmolean events:
The Naked Form in Modern Chinese Art is at the Ashmolean Museum, until Sep 15, 2019. This small display includes the painting above by Huang Yongyu, 4 paintings by Wilson Shieh, and an east-meets-west life drawing by CBPS Honorary President Qu Leilei.
As well as the hazy carpet of bluebells in the woods, a cascade of wisteria is suddenly flowing over walls. The scent is delicious.
This is a great time to sketch the flowers and check how they hang from the branches.
There’s lots of wisteria in London and all around the country. This lovely gate is in the charming island of Jersey.
A Scottish take on traditions Chinese scholar objects by artist David Watson Hood, including inkstones made from local rocks. You can see more of his recent work on Facebook.
The 2018 CBPS AGM was a great success! Knuston Hall gave us a warm welcome and plenty of good food. The AGM business was conducted with good humour, and Louisa Yuen brought lots of interesting papers, brushes and books.
The three workshops from CBPS member teachers were excellent!
Kaili Fu captured the spirit of the lotus in literati style on xuan, with a hovering dragonfly.
Maggie Cross was inspired by an African safari with Jane Dwight to paint dramatic leopards and lions on mulberry paper.
Her innovative use of a large hake brush to model the body or form the lion’s mane really inspired us to be bold!
Dr Xuzhuang Li shared three new phrases with his unique step-by-step guide to running script. He explained the different calligraphy scripts – the photo shows the seal script for “dragon” – and the characteristic strokes for running script.
After the AGM, Anne Haworth’s fascinating talk on The Phoenix at the Fall of the Empire, illustrated with copious slides, combined detailed knowledge and human interest to compare the lives of three Empresses of the Qing dynasty, including the formidable Cixi, and the melancholy Wan Rong, balanced between archaic and modern worlds.
Barbara, Marion and Pauline also provided relaxing craft sessions in the evening, which were much enjoyed.
The Chinese Gallery at the British Museum will include and rotate different types of objects such as paintings, prints and textiles. It includes a digital version of the rarely-displayed Admonitions Scroll.
The Chinese Jade gallery has also been refurbished, with some exquisite new items.
The Percival David collection of Chinese ceramics remains well worth a visit.
