A month-long Festival of China will be jointly presented in
Washington D.C by the Chinese Ministry of Culture (MOC) and the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts from October 1 to
31.
The event is the result of three years' planning and
preparation.
The festival aims to recreate the grandeur and magnificence of
China's 5000 years of civilization, according to Pu Tong, deputy
director of Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry
of Culture, who was speaking at an MOC press conference on
Thursday.
According to Wu Xun, director of the Department of American and
Oceanic Affairs at the MOC, both sides contributed to the festival
budget of US$7 million. Alicia Adams, vice president of
International Programming and Dance at the Kennedy Center, said
that the festival will be the largest celebration of Chinese
performing arts in American history and the largest one in scale
that the center has hosted.
More than 600 performers from the fields of dance, music,
traditional opera and contemporary theater from cities like
Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Xi'an, along with Chinese artists
based in the US, will participate in the event. Visual art and
contemporary film exhibitions will also be presented. Eight Chinese
modern movies will be screened, two movies every Monday, throughout
the month.
For the opening on October 1, which coincides with China's
National Day, three terracotta warriors and a photo exhibition
entitled "Charming Beijing" will be put up in the lobby of the
Kennedy Center. The China Contemporary Installation and Sculpture
Exhibition will be set up in the opening area of the center.
Numerous outdoor activities are also planned for the opening,
including a folk customs exposition and kite flying.
An evening show will be held in the Eisenhower Theater of the
Center to formally kick off the month-long festival. A fireworks
display entitled Tornado created by American Chinese Artist Cai
Guoqiang will be set up by the Potomac River.
Other performances scheduled for the festival include
Female
Generals from the Yang Family by China National Peking Opera
Company,
Tea House by Beijing People's Art Theater,
Raise the Red Lantern and
Mixed Repertoire by
China National Ballet,
Mixed Shadow and Puppet Program by
Shaanxi Folk Art Theater, a concert with Lang Lang performing
Yellow River by Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and
Map by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tan Dun.
Prof. Sun Jingbo of China Central Academy of Fine Arts was
commissioned by the MOC to paint two murals --
Verve of
China, in acrylic, featuring flying asparas with musical
instruments; and another based on the famous calligraphy work of
Wang Xizhi's
Orchid Pavilion Preface, in lacquer. The
murals are to be donated to the Kennedy Center and installed in the
VIP lounge of the Eisenhower Theater and unveiled during the
festival. The lounge will be renamed "The Chinese Room."
The festival will take place in between the reciprocal state
visits by President Hu Jintao and President George W. Bush in
September and November respectively.
Visitors will have to purchase tickets for performances, but most
of the exhibitions are free of charge.
Part of the festival includes a "Cultural Week of Beijing," a
series of activities to be held in Beijing from October 1 to 9 in
tandem with the main festival in the US.
(China.org.cn by Chen Lin September 2, 2005)
