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Music

China National Traditional Orchestra

Conducted by CHEN Xieyang

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Founded in Beijing in 1960 by the famous composer LI Huanzhi, this is Chinas biggest

traditional orchestra. This orchestra, with its choir and traditional Chinese instruments, isdirected by CHEN Xieyang, who has become the permanent conductor of the China

National Traditional Orchestra

Its repertoire provides a good overview of Chinese traditional music, while taking ininfluences from contemporary Chinese music, western classical music, and other forms

of music from around the world. Since it was first created, the orchestra has been invited

to play all over the world. In 1997, it held a concert with Yo-Yo MA, the famous cellist,at the Carnegie Hall in New York. In 2000, the China National Traditional Orchestra

played at the opening of the "Chinese Culture" festival in the United States .

Program :

LIU Xing, "Yunnan Huiyi", Concerto for zhongruan & orchestra

TAN Dun, "Huo Ji", Concerto for erhu & orchestraLIU Dehai, "Tian E", Concerto for pipa & orchestra

ZHANG Xiaofu, "Yongchun san zhang", Concerto for dizi & orchestraZHOU Hang, "Fo Tiao Qiang ", for orchestra

Exhibitions

The Orchid Pavilion

The art of writing in China

Masterpieces from the Forbidden City and other great Chinese collections illustrate theorigins, development and continuity of Chinese writing and calligraphy. The spotlight

will be on The Orchid Pavilion, a historic event from the year 353, which has inspired all

Chinese calligraphers from the Tang Dynasty to present day.

Curators: Dr. FAN Dian [Director of the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC),Beijing] , FU Hongzhan [Director, Department of Painting and Calligraphy, Palace

Museum (Forbidden City), Beijing], LaoZhu (ZHU Qingsheng) [Co-curator, Professor at

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the Beijing University], Andr Kneib [Lecturer at the Ecole des langues orientales and at

Paris IV Sorbonne], Jean-Marie Simonet [Co-curator, Honorary conservator of the

Royal Museums of Art and History]

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The Silk Road

A journey through life and death

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Two thousand years ago Europe and Asia were connected through a network of trade

routes, criss-crossing the continents, globalisation in a pre-global world. And then as now,it was not only silk and other luxury trade goods that were passed on along these routes:

ideas, technologies and faiths were all exchanged by the merchants, monks, missionaries,

artisans and soldiers who made parts of this great journey.

This exhibition will tell something of this story of great cultural and technological

exchange in a pre-modern world and, along the way, give an introduction to the

spectacular landscape and peoples of north-western China. The visitor will be taken onboth an historical and a geographical journey. The former will tell of the rise of the Silk

Road over two thousand years ago and follow its heyday, before showing something of

the Silk Road today. The visitor will travel from Xian, the site of Chinas capital city for

most of its history, westward through mountain passes to deserts, great mountains and thesteppe, ending in Kashgar at the western border of modern China.

Over 200 objects will be shown, many of them found in tombs, ranging from great works

of art to everyday utensils, so giving a glimpse into the lives and deaths of the people ofthe Silk Road.

Curators: Dr. ZHAO Gushan [Art Exhibitions China, Beijing]

Dr. Susan Whitfield [Director of the International Dunhuang Project at the British

Library],

The Three Dreams of the Mandarin

From the beginning of our era, a literary culture has developed in China, designed for a

wide audience of men of power (the mandarins), intellectuals and artists. This exhibition

is designed to portray the world of scholars, rooted in the ancient traditions they havetirelessly recreated and reinterpreted. The exhibition covers a period running from the

end of the Ming to the beginning of the Qing dynasties, between the 16th and 18th

centuries.

The exhibition is structured in two parts:

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The first one focuses on the highly educated mandarin: it shows his learning, his dreams

and aspirations, his relationship with his ancestors and his teachers, and his interest forsymbolic objects, such as antiques, books and paintings.

The second and most important part, attempts to portray an independent scholar. It is

divided into 3 sections, called Dreams:

The Dream of the Bamboo Grove illustrates the priorities in a Mandarins life, such asindependence from power, friendship with peers and intensive practice of the arts. Music,

wine and tea tasting, poetry and painting appreciation, and communion with nature are

the main themes highlighted in this room.

The Dream of the Shady Cherry Trees illustrates the love lives of men and women ofletters. The 17th and 18th centuries were particularly suited to the development of a

literary love culture between young people sharing the same artistic and literary tastes.The theme of the couple will be evoked by jade objects, paintings, and porcelains.

The Dream of the Butterfly recreates the environment of a garden, a place of intimacy,

of dreams of communion with nature - rivers and mountains, trees and clouds. The lotus

is a central element of the garden and is found on many objects collected by scholars.

Each stage of this journey towards greater freedom and intimacy will be linked with aplant - bamboo, cherry tree or lotusfor nature is as present in the scholars cabinet as in

the grandiose landscapes where he draws inspiration for his finest paintings.

Scholars used to surround themselves with sophisticated objects of jade or porcelain,

books and paintings, but they had simpler tastes than the rich merchants and courtiers. In

painting, inspiration and speed of execution were preferred to technical virtuosity, whichwill be illustrated by numerous art works. The aim of this exhibition is to illustrate the

very peculiar way these scholars used to interact with their environment, which wascomposed of books, objects, human beings, plants and animals

The Capital Museum in Beijing will lend about 100 objects, but numerous othermuseums and private collectors will also contribute to this exhibition.

Sponsor: ING

curators WU Junling [Curator Capital Museum, Beijing], SUN Wuji [Conservator

Capital Museum Beijing], Franoise Lauwaert [Professor at the ULB and ISTI], PatriciaDe Peuter [Director of the ING Arts Service]

Scenography: Bob Verhelst

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Optional Exhibitions (not included in tour price)

Propaganda Posters

Art and revolution

Propaganda posters enable to witness the historic and aestheticchanges undergone by the Chinese Society since 1949. At that time,

propaganda art was one of the major means to explain and illustrate

the legitimacy of the Communist Partys policies and visions of thefuture. It reinforced the messages passed on by other media such as

newspapers, film and radio broadcasting. So-called propaganda art hasplayed a major role in the many campaigns designed to mobilize the

people, and throughout the Peoples Republic, the propaganda posterhas been the favorite vehicle through which art conveyed modelbehavior. Stefan Landsberger and the International Institute of SocialHistory have collected Chinese political posters for many years now,

and have brought together an impressive collection of over 4,000prints, illustrating almost six decades of Chinese poster production.

Curators Prof. Dr. Stefan R. Landsberger [Leiden University,Netherlands]

Marien van der Heijden [International Institute for Social History,

Amsterdam, Netherlands]

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Heart-made. The Cutting-edge of Chinese Contemporary Architecture

This exhibition illustrates the development of Chinese design and architecture during the

last decade. This event is an opportunity to discover the Chinese avant-garde inarchitecture, design and town planning. The exhibition shows five aspects of Chinese

cities and architecture: living architecture is represented by recent or current projects;

digital architecture shows the cities and expressions of the future; video presentationsshow computer-generated images and films focusing on buildings or towns; installation

art and sound art produced in close collaboration with architects and artists from various

fields give a varied perspective of the towns. All this shows the exceptional diversity of

urban architecture. Largely influenced by Rem Koolhaas and Steven Holl, the Chinesearchitects and artists of our time are the pioneers of the architecture and design of China,

reacting to the changing society that surrounds them.

Curators FANG Zhenning [Art and architecture critic], Christophe Pourtois [Director ofthe CIVA], Marcelle Rabinowicz [Head of Exhibitions of the CIVA]

China from the 50s to Now

A great amount of pictures taken by Chinese journalists show the evolution of the daily

life in China and of China-Europe relations.

Curators: Dominique Andr [Club Chine OPT]

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Extra concert to be confirmed by organisers

(not included in tour price)

Hui Liu. Sound Flowing

Confluence between East and West

It was January 2008 that WU Wei and Thomas Dieltjens, respectiveartitistic directors of the Dragon Ensemble (Berlin and China), and HetCollectief, met each other in Gent and decided to intensively work

together. They hope to merge western and eastern musical traditions.The two ensembles, each comprising five musicians, fuse together to

form a ten-man whole. Het Collectief play on modern westerninstruments and the Dragon Ensemble on traditional Chinese

instruments. The focus lies in the unique nature of this large chambermusic group, not on the exoticism of the Chinese instruments. Twocomposers with Chinese roots, HUANG Ruo (USA), and KEE YongChong (MY) were happy to write a new work for this mixed chamber

ensemble, and our very own Annelies Van Parys akes up the challengetoo. A musical encounter that breaks down barriers between cultures

and can perhaps act as the catalyst for a new musical tradition.