US heartland gets taste of Chinese culture

Two women in their 50s stand contemplating in front of Guanyin of the South China Sea, an ancient Chinese sculpture in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.

Over the past 20 years, they have been visiting the museum, describing the "mother Buddha" as "beautiful, serene and sublime". "There is a huge Chinese collection here. This (Guanyin) is the most spectacular," they say, hoping to remain in anonymity.

The museum collects more than 7,500 high-quality Chinese works, ranging from ceramics to furniture, and from paintings to sculptures.

"We may not have the biggest Chinese art collection, but it is one of the finest in the world," says Ling-en Lu, curator and Chinese art specialist of the museum.

Since its launch in 1933, the museum has been actively collecting, preserving, studying and exhibiting works of Chinese art. And its Chinese art collection contains masterpieces in various historical stages.

The most admired Guanyin of the South China Sea, measuring 2.4 meters high, 1.68 meters wide and 1.1 meters thick from either China's Liao Dynasty (916-1125) or Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), was carved from the trunk of a single poplar tree. The larger-than-life sculpture has created a sense of calm and warmth in the hall.

In front of Flower Vase with Dragon Motif, a stoneware decorated in sgraffito technique from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), Lu says this is one of the few vases of its kind left in the world that remains intact.

A Luohan (arhat) sculpture with three-color lead glaze from the Liao Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty is found in the caves in the high cliffs of Yixian, China's Hebei province. Solemn expression and dignity portray his concentration and spiritual presence.

Sealed in a glass cupboard, there are more than a dozen cricket cages, dishes and pots from several dynasties in ancient China. "They are very popular among children," Lu says.

An exhibition on the theme of Lively Creatures-Animals in Chinese Art was held at the museum, which displayed tens of Chinese ancient paintings with images of animals in many art forms. The creatures on the paintings represented celebration, personal messages, and even political and religious agendas.

Organizers of the exhibition produced a set of cards, with images of animals on one side and their cultural meaning in Chinese artistic tradition on the other. For example, egrets represent incorruptibility and integrity and deer symbolize a long life. The cards are provided to visitors for free.

"I find it very interesting, and the way that the things are drawn, it's very cool," says 17-year-old high school student Camden Lombard after visiting the exhibition. "I feel like I know a lot more about Chinese culture and how they were back then and their beliefs and stuff.

"I want to go to China someday to find more," he adds.

It's "a big source of pride having such a collection of Chinese art", says Christie Makar, an educator with the school outreach and educator programs of the museum.

She manages the museum's Art Connection Kit, a collection of student-friendly materials designed to encourage multidisciplinary and hands-on activities. Local students can study Chinese art and culture while appreciating its diversity by exploring the museum's Chinese collection.

"It's kind of eye-opening and we're bringing the world together," says Makar. "There are so many similarities and we can appreciate the beauty and the work that artists from around the world have created.

"We're (also) trying to give to our students (the idea) that there are differences, but they are beautiful differences, and just trying to understand and appreciate one another," Makar adds.

"We're in a moment where it's sometimes hard to look outside of your own personal viewpoints," says Marla van Thournout, manager of volunteer engagement at the museum. "I think having access to seeing what other cultures have created, what they valued and appreciated and what was important to them, is really important in building that understanding about all the people we share this planet with."