Peony Pavilion at Metropolitan Museum
From Nov 29 to Dec 2, 2012, Shanghai Zhang Jun Kunqu Art Center from China was presented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Astor Court Garden, in Tan Dun’s production of Kunqu Opera Peony Pavilion. A gala reception was held in the Temple of Dendur. This was co-presented by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and US-China Cultural Institute.
This was the first time, performance in the Astor Court, a replica of a Shanghai Ming garden built by Chinese artisans 33 years ago in one of the earliest US-China collaborations. Since the Astor Court lies in the center of the Asian galleries, it was a natural connection to an 8 gallery show of Met’s collection of Garden art, their major fall Asian gallery exhibition, “Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats”.
Except the 6 performances in the Astor Court, the performance was also relayed in high-definition video to the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. And the video is now available for streaming on the Met’s Web site. In addition, a lecture given by Tan Dun and Maxwell K. Hearn, curator of Asian Art was offered to audiencesin the auditorium.
The Peony Pavilion program was an example of bringing the best of Chinese culture to the most important American culture venue and the cultural audience in US, and received extensive media coverage includingNew York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR and other major media in US. The Art Channel of SMG TV brought a film crew to New York and created a documentary, and it was aired in March 2013 in China. Besides, this program was also reported in CCTV Evening News.
This was the first time, performance in the Astor Court, a replica of a Shanghai Ming garden built by Chinese artisans 33 years ago in one of the earliest US-China collaborations. Since the Astor Court lies in the center of the Asian galleries, it was a natural connection to an 8 gallery show of Met’s collection of Garden art, their major fall Asian gallery exhibition, “Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats”.
Except the 6 performances in the Astor Court, the performance was also relayed in high-definition video to the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. And the video is now available for streaming on the Met’s Web site. In addition, a lecture given by Tan Dun and Maxwell K. Hearn, curator of Asian Art was offered to audiencesin the auditorium.
The Peony Pavilion program was an example of bringing the best of Chinese culture to the most important American culture venue and the cultural audience in US, and received extensive media coverage includingNew York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR and other major media in US. The Art Channel of SMG TV brought a film crew to New York and created a documentary, and it was aired in March 2013 in China. Besides, this program was also reported in CCTV Evening News.
