The Asian department was pleased to host the director of the Shaanxi History Museum, Mr CHENG Jianzheng, and two of his staff for a study visit in early August. The Shaanxi History Museum, located in Xi’an, is one of the largest in China, with a collection of over 300 000 works. Xi’an, as the capital over 13 dynasties leading up until the Tang dynasty, has yielded a large number of gems of Chinese art, which are housed and displayed in the Museum. In addition to the rich collection of pottery, bronzes and jade, the highlight of the holdings are the unique Tang mural paintings from tombs of Tang princes and princesses, and the silver and gold objects from a famous Tang dynasty hoard at Hejiacun. Director Cheng and Art Gallery director Dr Michael Brand had a very constructive meeting after the delegation was briefed on areas of museum operation including security and conservation. The Museum has proposed a closer collaboration with the Art Gallery of NSW, and director Cheng sincerely invited Michael Brand to visit Xi’an in the near future. Curator of Chinese art CAO Yin said ‘Shaanxi is one of the richest provinces in China in terms of cultural relics. It would be wonderful if we could benefit from loans of key pieces of Chinese art in the future.’

Win
To celebrate the arrival of spring, we are giving away two free tickets for the 2012 Australian premiere of Intensely Soul: Transformational Odissi Indian Classic Dance and Music on Wednesday 19 September. Nirmal Jena, who has performed at the Gallery numerous times, is touring Australia with his sister Pratibha Jena. Each dances, sings and plays music, and the program includes solos, duets and instrumental performance. For your chance to win, please email us (competitions@ag.nsw.gov.au) by 14 September and tell us why you would like to attend.

Ai Yamaguchi’s ‘Hanahiru’

Ai Yamaguchi’s Hanahiru, a new acquisition for the Gallery, adds positively to the Gallery’s growing collection of contemporary Asian works that underline the continuation of tradition into contemporary. The work was initially created for Kamisaka Sekka: dawn of modern Japanese design as homage to the earlier Rinpa masters featured in the show. In this work Yamaguchi furthers her exploration of the decorative potential of the meandering streams of hair that figure prominently in her installation We have as much to talk about as this mountain is tall. The sinuous silhouette of the long, jet-black and shiny tresses references the stylised rivulets often encountered in Rinpa painting. Yamaguchi, however, disrupts the flow, misaligning several sections to evoke a sense of disorder.

Reflecting upon the sense of liberation felt when the top-knot of a hairstyle, which traditionally defined the social and marital status of a woman in pre-modern Japan, is dissolved, and the moment of chaos that exists between the deconstruction and reconstruction of the hairdo, Yamaguchi draws parallels with her own work as an artist. For her, the process in the creation of a painting initially stems from letting imagination and fantasy run free; it then proceeds to the discovery of a logic among the disorder of thoughts and finally it becomes a transformation of the chaos into a coherent work.

Dadang Christanto: They give evidence

15 Sep 2012 – 17 Mar 2013
A reprise of the confronting and moving, larger-than-life sculptures of human suffering by Dadang Christanto, first seen here at the launch of the new Asian galleries in 2003 and again in 2005. Christanto's works speak eloquently for the victims of oppression and social injustice. The 16 male and female figures in this installation represent displaced victims, mutely carrying the bodies of innocent men, women and children who have been killed – testament to the inhumanity of man, a silent monument to communal grief.

More on Dadang Christanto: They give evidence

18th Biennale of Sydney: all our relations

Closes this Sunday (16 Sep 2012)
The 18th Biennale of Sydney: all our relations is drawing to a close. If you have yet to explore the multitude of what the Biennale offers, you may like to take the time to catch a glimpse of Gao Rong’s embroidered house (The Static eternity) and Yuken Teruya’s paper shopping bags, from which the silhouettes of miniature trees have been cut, at the Gallery. The other Asian artists to look out for at the Gallery include Yun-Fei Ji, Nipan Oranniwesna and Binh Danh.

More on the 18th Biennale of Sydney

Tours

Arts of Asia from October, Daily 12noon
Gallery highlights: in Cantonese, Tuesdays 11am
Gallery highlights: in Mandarin, Thursdays 11am
Gallery highlights: in Japanese, Fridays 11am
Gallery highlights: in Korean, Fridays 11am

Arts of Asia lecture series

Love
Tuesdays 1pm, until 16 Oct
The theme of love in the Arts of Asia lecture series moves into Japanese topics from mid-September with topics including love stories from the Tales of Ise as illustrated in Rinpa art, and stories of women’s love and suffering in the Noh theatre. University of Sydney academic Dr Rebecca Suter discusses The eroticisation of Europe in girls’ manga. She is organising an international conference on women’s manga in Sydney in January. Our final lecture in the series brings us up to the present with a survey of the work of Taiwanese artist Tsai Charwei, How far would you go for love?.

More info on Arts of Asia lecture series and book online

Workshops

Chinese ink painting workshop: Australian flowers with Liwanna Chan
Saturday 22 Sep, repeated Friday 28 Sep
Let Liwanna Chan guide you in the art of the brush by painting directly from native flora. Learn how to use traditional Chinese ink and watercolour, handle the brush and execute artistic strokes. A wonderful way to welcome Spring!
Bookings essential

More about Chinese ink painting workshop
 

Members Armchair travel talks

Saturday 20 Oct

Japan
Join senior coordinator of Asian programs, Ann MacArthur, as she shares her love and knowledge of this magical country, beginning in the historic imperial capital, Kyoto. Continue to the mystical and misty Mount Koya, centre of Shingon Buddhism, then to Okayama, before finishing on the island of Naoshima, staying at the Tadao Ando designed Benesse House hotel on the Benesse Art Site. Ann will lead the Society’s tour Japan: classic to contemporary in May 2013.

10am coffee, lower level 3
10.30am talk, Centenary Auditorium, lower level 1
$15 members & guests

Taiwan
Join Taiwanese-born Phoebe Alexander as she shares her in-depth knowledge and personal experience of Taiwan’s history, culture and people. Enjoy a captivating journey across the length and breadth of this unique island. Highlights include Taipei’s outstanding National Palace Museum and its collection of art treasures encompassing a millennia of Chinese history, the prestigious, private Chimei Museum, the beautiful Sun Moon Lake and the magnificent Taroko Gorge. Phoebe will lead the Society’s tour Lantern Festival and the arts in Taiwan in February/March 2013.

2pm talk, Centenary Auditorium, lower level 1
$10 members & guests

View World art tour itineraries

Access workshop for Chinese children

“We were delighted to have such a wonderful team of volunteers who are very patient in explaining the art work, and the interaction with our children is just fantastic. Parents were surprised to see how their children responded to the questions asked. The format of the tour really suits our group. Great day, great experience!”

Miranda Vuong,
Vice President, CPA

Fifty parents and children from the group Chinese Parents Association – Children with Disabilities (CPA) Inc enjoyed a workshop in July with the Community Ambassadors under the guidance of public programs staff Danielle Gullotta and Dr Lim Chye Hong. This workshop was designed to engage the children and parents with selected artworks through close observation, discussion, open-ended questions, role-play and the use of sensory materials. The children were then given the opportunity to respond by making their own artworks. This workshop was so successful that the group plans a return visit to the Gallery on 8 September 2012 for the Lord Mayor's Community Access Day in association with the 18th Biennale of Sydney.

Access  programs at the Gallery are provided for children and adults who are hearing or vision impaired or who have an intellectual disability.