History of Chinese porcelain from the 10th century to the present day
February 3 – March 7, 2007
For the first time in Stalowa Wola hosts a presentation related to the culture of the Far East.
The mysteries of the Middle Kingdom have fascinated Europeans for centuries. Expedition into the world of Chinese porcelain, its utilitarian and symbolic values, is an exposition presenting about 200 original products.
Numerous vases, vases, teapots and figures represent the most characteristic phenomena, types and trends in the development of the noble art of porcelain. They illustrate the stages of development of decoration techniques, changes and improvements made in different historical periods over a thousand years – from the reign of successive dynasties to the current PRC rule.
Porcelain has held a unique importance in China for centuries. It was produced both for the imperial court and for ceremonial or cultic purposes, but also for households, for everyday use. Often, because of its value, it was a kind of court currency used to buy government positions. Porcelain also found use in the world of music. According to legends, a Chinese musician – enraptured by the beauty of porcelain wares – discovered their musical value when he nudged one of them with a bamboo baton, and it responded with a magnificent and clear sound (only porcelain of the highest quality produces a clear and loud sound).
Thanks to such widespread use of porcelain, great centers of porcelain vessel production were established across China, the most famous of which was Jingdezhen, which won the title of China’s Porcelain Capital during the Yuan Dynasty. It is from Jingdezhen that most of the works presented in the exhibition come.
Certainly, the products of Chinese ceramists and decorator-painters are imbued with what we can call “Chinese spirit.” The artists themselves, describing the process of creation, say that in every inflection of the form, every painted line, energy is enclosed – the energy of the creator, the energy of the movement of the tool, as well as the energy of the surrounding world. You only need to get close to the vessel, look at it for a moment, stay with it, to feel it. The exhibition History of Chinese Porcelain from the 10th Century to the Present is filled with this energy.
Director Lucyna Mizera promises further encounters with the Orient at the Stalowa Wola Museum: an exhibition of Japanese kimonos is planned for the end of the year: Beauty and Tradition. Collection of kimonos of the Kodaimaru and Yamanaka Families.
Says the coordinator of the exhibition “History of Chinese Porcelain” at the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola, ethnologist, Michal Majowicz: “ The exhibition is complemented by a film, revealing the secrets of the production of Chinese porcelain will also be multimedia presentations, showing the world of Chinese culture and technology. At a time of widespread fascination with the exoticism of the East, the exhibition responds to the need to learn about this complex subject, usually perceived superficially and stereotypically.
The exhibition is accompanied by an originally published catalog, containing a cross-sectional study of the history of porcelain manufacturing and development in China over 1,000 years. The organizer of the exhibition is the Polish-Chinese Foundation for the Promotion of Culture and Art DONG FENG.
weekend with chinese culture
A weekend with Chinese culture will be held during the exhibition (10-11.02), including lectures, film screenings, as well as a tea ceremony, Chinese calligraphy workshops. The workshops will be conducted by sinologists.
program
Saturday, 10.02, 4-7 pm
– History of porcelain making in China.
The lecture will be given by the curator of the exhibition, art historian Agnieszka Szpala
– Screening of films about Chinese art and culture
Sunday, 11.02, 1-5 pm
– Tea ceremony with the use of authentic Chinese accessories and costumes
the show will be led by Wei-Yun Lin (Taiwan)
– Demonstration and workshop of Chinese calligraphy using traditional tools
demonstration will be led by Wei-Yun Lin (Taiwan)
The purpose of the ceremony of brewing and drinking tea is to purify the soul and achieve harmony with the world and nature. The goal of the art of tea is also the pursuit of beauty. Special attention is paid to the selection of appropriate vessels, which should have harmonious and proportionate shapes and be comfortable to use, and to finding the best place to hold the tea mystery. Elements of the natural environment, such as a gentle breeze, moonlight, the smell of a pine forest, a bamboo park or a view of snow-capped hills, but also the impeccable decor of the room are extremely important for creating the right mood during the magical tea ritual. The tea ritual is a kind of meditation that helps to get away from the worries of everyday life, thoughts of the past and future, but also affects the health of our soul and body, the formation of character, morals and the maintenance of interpersonal relations. Practical knowledge of complex ceremonial also had to be possessed by every upper-class woman, as it increased her attractiveness as a candidate for a wife.
In the art of Chinese writing, a remarkable role is played by the tools of the trade. Each of them is selected by the artist with extreme care, having previously been produced with great care by craftsmen. In Chinese culture, centered around writing, calligraphy tools are symbolically called “four treasures.” A well-known Chinese saying goes: “The image is made by the ink, the ink is guided by the brush, and this is guided by the joint of the hand, and the joint is guided by the heart.” The story of the tools needed to create calligraphy and classical Chinese painting is not just a story of inanimate objects. To fully understand the importance of calligraphic tools in Far Eastern culture, one must constantly remember that there is always wisdom and virtue at the end of the road.
