Silk and Bamboo: Music and Art of China
Metropolitan Museum of Art
September 5, 2009-February 7, 2010

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present an exhibition celebrating the musical heritage of China – one of the oldest continuously documented traditions with roots reaching back more than 8,000 years – beginning September 5. Featuring some 60 objects and illustrations – drawn largely from the Museum’s collections of Asian art and musical instruments – Silk and Bamboo: Music and Art of China will reveal the dynamic interplay of cultures, the continuity of musical practice, and the diversity of China’s musical traditions from the fifth century B.C. to the present.

This exhibition will display a wide variety of Chinese musical instruments and art, including a rare ivory-covered pipa (lute) and a lacquered qin (zither) of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), extraordinary bells of the fifth century B.C., and a set of pottery figures in the shapes of dancers and musicians from the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) and Tang dynasty (618-907).

The exhibition is made possible in part by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.

Silk and Bamboo will complement the China Festival (October 21-November 10, 2009) offered by Carnegie Hall.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum will offer a variety of educational programs.

The exhibition is a collaborative effort organized by J. Kenneth Moore, the Frederick P. Rose Curator in Charge, Department of Musical Instruments; and James C. Y. Watt, the Brooke Russell Astor Chairman of the Department of Asian Art.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Related posts:

1. Shape & Spirit: Selections from the Lutz Bamboo Collection
2. Watteau, Music, and Theater
3. Arts of the Ming Dynasty: China’s Age of Brilliance
4. Performance, Video, Music, and Audio Features by Contemporary New York Artists Included in Metropolitan Museum’s “Pictures Generation” Exhibition this Spring
5. Faces & Flowers: Painting on Lenox China