The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia
will mark the conclusion of the APEC conference with an exhibit
of ancient Chinese art from one of the world’s finest private collections.
The exhibit, entitled Recalling the Past: A Selection of Early
Chinese Art from the Victor Shaw Collection, spans 4,500 years from
the Neolithic through the Han, Tang and Song dynasties. It opens
Wednesday, Dec. 3.
The Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting
will be held in MOA’s Great Hall on Nov. 25. The art exhibition
is one of a number of university-supported APEC initiatives that
will benefit students, teaching and scholarly research at UBC.
As well as inspiring a series of legacies, the APEC meeting is
expected to strengthen UBC’s position as Canada’s pre-eminent institution
for higher learning in Asia Pacific affairs and serve to reinforce
the university’s links with Asia and other APEC economies.
The MOA exhibit features objects in jade, bronze, ceramic, gold
and silver and other materials that are all remarkable for the exceptional
quality of their manufacture and design.
These objects reveal aspects of ancient Chinese civilization —
notions of ritual, changing decorative motifs, the formation of
national unity during the Han, the importance of the Tang and the
justified fame both within China and around the world of Chinese
ceramics.
Exhibit highlights include bi discs and other ritual objects from
the Neolithic to the Han period. No one knows what purpose these
objects served, yet the sheer number of pieces excavated and the
few, subtle differences they show in more than 2,500 years of manufacture
attest to their great cultural importance.
Other human and animal figurines, ornaments and ceramics show the
changing social, religious and technological influences on early
Chinese art.
All the objects share an elegance of form and serenity of design
that have been prized aspects of Chinese art.
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