Frostic School of Art

Visiting Scholar: Dr. Yang Liu

Sunday, September 9, 2018
Richmond Center for Visual Arts
room 2008 at 3:00 p.m.

Dr. Liu received Ph.D. at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Prior to his appointment at Mia, Dr. Liu served as the Senior Curator of Chinese Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. He was concurrently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney and University of New South Wales. He has published widely on Chinese art and archaeology, including thirteen books and catalogues. Dr. Liu also serves as a member of the Advisory Committee for the China Center at the University of Minnesota.

Power and Beauty in China’s Last Dynasty, recently held at the Mia, was the first- of-its-kind collaboration between Mia’s Curator of Chinese art, Dr. Liu, and Robert Wilson, renowned theatrical director and artist. It resulted in an exhibition that pushed the boundaries of traditional museum practice. Rather than explanatory text for each object, lengthy timelines of major historical moments, and contextual photographs, the exhibition drew on the virtuosity of Mia’s team and Wilson at conjuring mood and atmosphere by manipulating light, color, sound, smell and form through time and space. The exhibition provided visitors with breathtaking examples of Chinese art from Mia’s collection that are emblematic of the rarefied life at the court of Qing, China’s last dynasty. In this lecture, Dr. Liu will provide the background of the show and guide you through the display of ten unique galleries.

Supported by the Timothy Light Center for Chinese Studies, Western Michigan University