The Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China, collaborated with
the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts of the United States of
America, will present a month-long Festival of China in Washington D.C. from
October 1st to 31st, 2005.
The Festival will be held just between the reciprocal visits by President Hu
Jintao and President George Bush in September and November respectively, which
is of great significance in that it will help create friendly atmosphere for the
successful visits.
The John F. Kennedy Center, as the presenter of the Festival of China, is a
national center for performing arts in the US, and furthermore one of the
world's most renowned cultural institutions. As a nonprofit artistic
organization, the center accepts funds appropriated by the federal government
and donations from different communities. It takes on the largest arts education
programme in the nation. The Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts
is an exclusive committee of celebrated international arts supporters and
sponsors. The Chairman of Board is nominated by the federal government of the
United States, with the First Lady as the honorary chairperson.
The Festival of China in 2005 would be the largest
in scale of its kind presented by the John F Kennedy Center, of which the theme
focuses wholly on just one country or region. It is taken also as one of the
most important external cultural exchanges projected by the Ministry of Culture,
which aims to reflect the grandeur and magnificence of the 5000 years' culture
of China.
During the Festival, Minister SUN Jiazheng will make a keynote speech to the
opinion leaders and elites of the American mainstream press and artistic circles
followed by a Q&A session. Beijing municipal government will also organize a
cultural week of Beijing, which includes variety show, special exhibition and
folklore exposition, as part of the Festival.
Prof. SUN Jingbo of China Central Academy of Fine Arts was commissioned by
the Ministry of Culture for two murals (acrylic-painted mural Verve of China
featuring flying asparas with musical instruments, and lacquer mural based on
the famous calligraphy work of WANG Xizhi's Orchid Pavilion Preface) to be
donated as gifts of Chinese Government to the Kennedy Centre. The murals will be
installed in the VIP lounge of the Eisenhower Theater and unveiled during the
Festival. Thus the lounge itself will then be renamed as the "Chinese Room".
The Festival of China will take the Kennedy Center as its main site,
presenting more than 10 stage performances, visual art exhibitions and
contemporary film exhibitions, sending over 700 people from China.
The detailed programme is as follows:
1. Female Generals from the Yang Family by China National Peking
Opera Company
October 13-15
2. Tea House by Beijing People's Art
Theatre
October 27-29
3. Raise the Red Lantern & Mixed
repertoire by China National Ballet
October 4-5, 7-8
4. Mixed
Shadow and Puppet Programme by Shaanxi Folk Art Theatre
October
25-29
5. Cathy - Three Tales from China by Shaanxi Folk Art Theatre
& Ping Chong Company
October 21-23
6. Chorus concert by Inner
Mongolian Youth Choir
October 3
7. Song and Dance Programme by
Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble
Ocotber17-18
8. Percussion
Concert by Beijing Red Poppy Ladies Percussion Band
October 6
9.
Triple Bill by Beijing Modern Dance Company, Guangdong Modern Dance
Company and Hong Kong City Modern Dance Company
October 7-9
10. Mixed
Programme by Yunnan Yuansheng Indigenous Music & Dance
Studio
October 11
11. Concert with LANG Lang Performing "Yellow River"
Piano Concerto Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra
October 2
12. Concert
with TAN Dun conducting "Map" Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
October
16
13. Concert with 100 pianos 6 young pianists from Shenzhen;
Piano Recital Concert Chen Sa from Shenzhen
October 3; October
24
14. Terracotta Warriors 2 original Warrior Figures for display in
the foyer of the Kennedy Center throughout the month
15. China
Contemporary Installation and Sculpture Exhibition displayed at open area
of Kennedy Centre throughout the month
16. China Modern Movie
Exhibition 8 movies in total with 2 movies every Monday throughout the
month
The programme Raise the Red Lantern & Mixed repertoire by China National
Ballet, after the Festival, will make a commercial tour performance in North
America, planned by ICM. The new programme Cathay co-produced by Shaanxi Folk
Art Theatre and Ping Chong Company, the Yunnan Indigenous Music and Dance
Studio, Beijing Modern Dance Company together with Guangdong Modern Dance
Company will also make tour performances in the United States of America.
Besides, with the invitation by the overseas Chinese communities, the Beijing
People's Art Theatre and Red Poppy Ladies Percussion Band will also put on
performances in Chicago, San Francisco and Houston fore and after the
Festival.
Moreover, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and the Hong Kong City Modern Dance
Company from Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region will by then participate in the
Festival. Artworks of artists from Taiwan region are also included in China
Contemporary Installation and Sculpture Exhibition
Some influential American-Chinese art groups in the US, such as the Ying
Quartet, SHEN Wei Modern Dance Company and Chinese artists like CAI Guoqiang,
TAN Dun, Tim Yip, jazz musician Jon Jang, fashion designers Vivienne TAM, Vera
WANG and HAN Feng will all participate in this Festival. Renowned artist XU Bing
had designed the logo and banner for the Festival using his "English Chinese"
concept. Cartier Company will lay out 1200 of its designs which were somewhat
inspired by the Chinese culture.
The inauguration of the Festival of China is
scheduled on October 1st on the occasion of the Chinese National Day. The
opening celebration of the Festival, integrated with the Beijing Cultural Week,
includes both day time and night time activities.
By then, two terra-cotta warriors together with the picture exhibition of
Charming Beijing will be put up in the lobby of the Kennedy Center and the China
Contemporary Installation and Sculpture Exhibition will be set up in the opening
area of the center. Meanwhile, a great variety of outdoor activities will take
place outside the center, such as folk-customs exposition and kites flying. Some
performances of the Beijing Cultural Week will be put on at the Millennium Stage
inside the Center. As Sister Cities to each other, Beijing and Washington D.C.
will make further coordination to manage more public-oriented activities.
In the evening, receptions and banquet will be held in the Kennedy Center. A
variety show will be held in the Eisenhower Theater of the Center to formally
kick off the month-long Festival, right before which the recorded television
speech of congratulatory messages from both President HU Jintao and President
George W. Bush will be shown on the big screen. After the opening performance,
installation and fireworks titled Tornado created by American Chinese Artist CAI
Guoqiang will be set up and shown over the Potomac River and boats. The Chinese
Ambassador, H. E. Mr. ZHOU Wenzhong and the Kennedy Center will invite honorable
guests to take part in the opening celebration, including the first lady of the
United States, the Vice president and his wife, congressmen, mayor of Washington
D.C. and representatives of the diplomatic commission and more. The Minister of
Culture of P. R. China, head of the Beijing Municipal Government and the Chinese
Embassy in the U.S. will also be presented.
Other than performances and exhibitions, educational exchanges will be
carried out between the Chinese art troupes and local communities. It is
estimated that more than 400,000 spectators will personally get access to the
Chinese culture and more than 1,000,000 will experience it through newspapers,
T.V. programme, internet and radio broadcasting.
For more information and photos, please refer to the CD-Rom attached,
or
log on www.chinaculture.org
For
more info in English released in U.S., please log on www.kennedy-center.org
And
welcome to call Division for American and Oceanic Affairs, Bureau for External
Cultural Relations, Ministry of Culture at 65551976/1986 for further information
Emblem and Flag of "The Festival of
China"
Designed by Xu Bing, a famous Chinese artist in New York, the emblem of "The
Festival of China" has its root in the "astronomic book", namely, the "New
English Calligraphy" which referred to form Chinese characters by combining
English letters. The Emblem of "The Festival of China" is composed of an English
word "China", which looks like a Chinese character, and the flag features "The
Festival of China."
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