China: Journey to the East

22nd May to 8th September 2010
A British Museum Exhibition - York Art Gallery
A major exhibition exploring three thousand years of Chinese culture is taking place at York Art Gallery this summer. More than 100 remarkable objects from the British Museum will be included in the touring exhibition entitled: China: Journey to the East. These will be complemented by artefacts from the York Museums Trust collections and York’s Chinese communities.

The exhibition is part of a national tour, supported by BP, a CHINA NOW legacy project, and it has been organised through the British Museum’s Partnership UK scheme.

Helen Walsh, assistant curator of decorative arts at York Art Gallery, said: “This exhibition offers visitors the chance to experience one of the world's most important and influential civilisations. We are delighted to be involved in this tour, which is the largest UK loan of Chinese material the British Museum has yet undertaken.”

A total of six venues were chosen to host this unique tour, with York being the penultimate venue. It opens in York on May 22 and is free.

China has always played a central part in the British Museum’s collection. The exhibition will feature objects from Sir Hans Sloane’s founding collection as well as objects which have never been seen outside the Museum. Five themes will be used to explore the three thousand years of Chinese history and culture – Technology, Leisure, Food, Festivals and Language and Writing.

The exhibition presents key enduring Chinese inventions such as the abacus (the world’s first calculator) the compass, and silk and porcelain manufacture. Objects will provide insight into the three main Chinese belief systems: Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism and will shed light on the colourful Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), and the important Mid-Autumn Festival.

The exhibition will also investigate the development of China's writing system and its development as an art form through objects that range from a writing brush and ink box from the Ming Dynasty to a jade seal with a dragon carved in the top from 1764.

Along with loan material from the British Museum, handling collections will allow visitors to experience the displays through sights and sounds, touch and smell. Visitors will have fun learning about 2,000 years of play in China, from Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 221) models of figures playing board games to shadow puppets from the 20th century.

A full series of events will also be planned around the exhibition.
York Art Gallery opens from 10am until 5pm daily and admission is free. For more information, members of the public can telephone 01904 687687 or visit www.yorkartgallery.org.uk

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