By
Maggie Burnett
Arizona Summer Wildcat
UA Museum of Art's 'Power of the Word' exhibit features the ancient Chinese art of calligraphy
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
But in the case of the Chinese, pictures and words are one in the same.
"Power of the Word," the latest exhibit to open at the UA Museum of Art, focuses on the 2000-year-old tradition of calligraphy - an expressive form of Chinese art in which written words are themselves pictures.
The exhibit, featuring the work of nine contemporary Chinese artists including the King of Kowloon, Fung Ming-Chip and Mao Zedong, is composed of paintings, drawings, photography and video depicting the ancient tradition of calligraphy.
The staff at the museum, located in the UA's Fine Arts Complex, said it anticipates that the arrival of the exhibit will act as an open invitation not only to the Chinese community but also to the Tucson community as a whole.
"There is a general sense that we want to engage as much of the university community and Tucson community as possible," said Alisa Shorr, publicity director at the museum. "The show has a lot of hot points - the political scene in China is very topical. This is not so just Chinese people can come see (the exhibit) but also so other people are exposed to the art."
Calligraphy, one of the most profound forms of art in Chinese culture, is used in the exhibit both in a traditional and non-traditional sense - several pieces, for example, use invented characters while others have used the English language to create art.
Because the majority of the pieces in the exhibit contain Chinese characters, not all those who view it will be able to directly understand the message each piece conveys. However, Peter Briggs, the museum's chief curator, said this should not deter visitors from experiencing the exhibit.
"Some of the things the images may evoke may be difficult to interpret, but some just play on the concert of calligraphy," he said, referring to "Square Work Calligraphy," a series of pieces by artist Xu Bing, who incorporated the English alphabet into his work.
"Like I said, these artists are very international in character. They are playing with things from around the world," Briggs added.
A large portion of the exhibit also encompasses a series of lectures and workshops aimed at helping the general public better understand the art of calligraphy.
The museum has invited Chen Yong Shan, Consul for Cultural Affairs from the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Los Angeles to represent the voice of the Chinese government in the exhibit.
Due to the significance of the Consul's visit to the museum, executive director Charles Guerin was forced to cancel one of the events scheduled to coordinate with the exhibit.
A demonstration on Falun Gong, an ancient Chinese exercise ritual that has been banned in China, was originally scheduled for Aug. 19 at the museum but has since been called off due to the possibly-offensive nature of the practice to Chinese visitors.
"(The Consul) expressed some concern about this and so we looked into it," Guerin said. "Basically, it came down to the fact that (he) would have been very offended had we done the demonstration. It's like the notion of inviting Orthodox Jewish people to dinner and offering them pork. The demonstration was not really related to the exhibition in any way and it offended our guests. It isn't an art thing and we are an art museum."
The Consul's visit continued as planned as he attended the reception for the opening of the exhibit on Sunday.
"The Consul and I, along with the associate director of the museum, toured the exhibit and I was able to speak with him in Chinese," said Matthew Gross, a receptionist at the museum who is fluent in Mandarin. "Many people were curious about him in that he is standing in for the government of the People's Republic of China."
Gross was also responsible for working on one of the exhibit's installations titled "Enigma of Birth." This particular part of the exhibit deals with procreation along with problems that may occur during childbirth.
"The piece consists of four mattresses upon which are placed dried, ground fetus material - placenta," he said. "The material spells out 'stillborn,' 'fetus' and 'abnormal fetus' (in Chinese). I was responsible for the creation of the characters using the dried up placenta."
Gross agreed with Briggs in that some of the pieces may be difficult to interpret for those not fluent in Chinese.
"A lot of the pieces are highly conceptual but as a westerner, you might not be able to see the underlying concept of the piece," he said. "Most will see how beautiful the pieces are, but I'm not so sure they will strike people as to what the artists are saying."
Still, Briggs said he anticipates a large turnout for the exhibit, especially once students and faculty begin to return to campus in the coming weeks.
"Things are a little slow on campus now, but we expect a large influx of people come mid-August," he said.
