Antonioni's China - Cultural Revolution Film Series, Contemporary Design and More!

Antonioni's China, Cultural Revolution Films, Contemporary Design and More!       Under Mao's Red Sun: China's Cultural Revolution on Film                         CHUNG KUO CHINA Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni Italy. 1972. 207 min.       Saturday, October 11, 2008, 3:00 pm In 1972, European art cinema master Antonioni went to China to make a documentary for Italian television. The resulting film enraged the Communist authorities, who called the filmmaker reactionary, anti-Chinese, and imperialist for showing "barren farmlands, lonely elderlies, tired animals, and broken houses." The masses were mobilized in a major campaign to criticize a film they had never seen and a filmmaker they had never heard of. The film, not shown in China until 2004 and now rarely seen in the West, is a significant historical text that provides glimpses of a largely inaccessible country during the Cultural Revolution. (In Italian with English subtitles.) "Chung Kuo China is a film about a China seen but not known, observed, but not explained, and that is its wonderful power and its secret happiness."—Film scholar Sam Rohdie This screening of Chung Kuo China (1972) is supported in part by the Italian Cultural Institute and Cineteca Nazionale, Rome, Italy. Photo Courtesy of Anthology Film Archives. A New Vision: Designers- Eric Chan, ECCO Design and Calvin Tsao, TsAO & McKOWN                                 Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 7:00 pm   Acclaimed designer Eric Chan and architect Calvin Tsao discuss design in a global environment and how Chinese thought/culture can inspire modern design in new, perhaps unexpected ways. Chan is hailed by Business Week as "one of the new breed of ingenious American designers."  Tsao is a founding partner of the awarding-winning design firm TsAO & McKOWN.  Moderated by Susan Szenasy, Editor in Chief, Metropolis Magazine.   Free for Asia Society Members     The Kai Yin Lo Distinguished Program Series Made possible with generous support from Kai-Yin Lo.   Co-organized by Hong Kong Design Centre Part of the New York Celebrates Hong Kong 2008 Festival. For more information www.newyorkcelebrateshongkong.com.    EVENT CANCELLED Ian Buruma and Xiaolu Guo: Author Conversation Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 7:00 pm    Under Mao's Red Sun: China's Cultural Revolution on Film Continues  This film series is presented by Asia Society's Cultural Programs in association with the Center on US-China Relations.    A series of documentary films examines the historical context and life during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution (1966-76). These documentaries focus on the people—Red Guards, victims of persecution, artists, and ordinary citizens—whose lives were fundamentally changed by Mao's Revolution.           Saturday, October 18, 2008, 7:00 pm RED ART Directed by Hu Jie, Ai Xiaoming China. 2008. 70 min. DVcam.   Under Mao's leadership, art was made to serve the "workers, peasants, soldiers, and the cause of socialism." A large amount of artwork, including billboard-scaled paintings and mass-produced posters, was created to promote the Party's ideology. In this film, the filmmakers—two of China's most active independent documentary filmmakers—talk to artists, including Liu Chunhua (who created the famous painting-turned-poster Mao Goes to Anyuan) about their participation. Other interview subjects include former Red Guards, academics, and collectors of Cultural Revolution relics and memorabilia who discuss the significance of these artworks then and now. Director Hu Jie in person for Q&A. (In Chinese with English subtitles.)     Exhibition Opening Lecture: Inside the World of Islamic Calligrapher Mary McWilliams, Harvard Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum Tuesday, October 21 at 6:00 pm   In Islamic culture calligraphy has retained its status as the quintessential art form, and calligraphers are considered the most highly esteemed artists. According to Islamic tradition the first thing created by God was the pen, and the practice of calligraphy constituted an expression of piety. Co-curator Mary McWilliams, Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Islamic and Later Indian Art, Harvard Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum gives an introduction to the exhibitions "Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice, ca. 1600-1900" and "Writing the Word of God: Calligraphy and the Qur'an."   Members-only opening lecture. Free admission. Advance registration highly recommended.   Shanghai Quartet & Friends Thursday-Friday, October 24-25, 2008 at 8:00 pm   One of the world's most outstanding string quartets presents works by contemporary Chinese composers including Chen Li, Bright Sheng, Zhou Long and Chinese folk songs from the Cultural Revolution period. Joined by guest musicians Wang Guowei (on erhu, October 24 and 25) and Min Xiao Fen (on pipa, October 25). Originally formed in Shanghai, this versatile ensemble is known for their passionate musicality, virtuosic technique, and multicultural innovations. The Shanghai Quartet melds the delicacy of Eastern music with the power of Western repertoire, from traditional Chinese folk music to the most challenging classical works. (Photo by Jean-Luc Bernard) "An ensemble with such virtuosity and style [the] Shanghai Quartet holds audiences breathless." –The Washington Post.    Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom: Creativity and the Revolution Panel Discussion Sunday, October 26, 2008, 3:00 pm   Journey to the past for first-hand accounts from artists who experienced the turbulent Cultural Revolution. Artists explain how the revolution has affected their subsequent creative lives over the past three decades. Panelists include First Violinist of Shanghai Quartet Weigang Li, choreographer/dancer Yin Mei, and visual artist Hongtu Zhang. Yin Mei Dance - Empty Tradition: City of Peonies/City of Paper -- Excerpts Friday-Saturday, October 31 and November 1, 2008 at 8:00 pm Free Admission. Advance Registration is highly recommended.   Experience an exhilarating performance that merges personal history, contemporary dance, and visual art. Choreographer and performer Yin Mei weaves the story of her experiences during the Cultural Revolution into a collaborative duet with Tibetan dancer Sang Jijia. They are joined by art/technologist Christopher Salter in presenting an excerpt from their new work "City of Paper" and an excerpt from Yin Mei's older work "Empty Tradition."   Around New York Author Ian Buruma- The China Lover Thursday, October 16 at 6:30 pm Location: Japan Society, 333 East 47 Street, New York, NY 10017   The actress Yoshiko Yamaguchi's life reflects a host of tensions that embody the development of modern Japan.  Japanese by nationality, Yamaguchi was born in 1920 in Manchuria and became a "Chinese" film star, known as Ri Koran. In this program, Ian Buruma, a scholar of Japanese film, and the author of the new novel "The China Lover" explores Yamaguchi's eventful life – the personality, the actress and the political figure. Moderated by Tom Vick, Film Programmer, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution. Followed by a reception.   $10-$8 Japan Society/Asia Society members, $5 seniors/ students. To register please click http://www.japansociety.org/event_detail?eid=75d46add  Or call Japan Society at 212-715-1258