Now you can explore how the Chinese elite in the Ming and Qing dynasties expressed status through insignia of rank and the robes and accessories that went with them. Rank and Style: Power Dressing in Imperial China is the museum’s latest online exhibit. Based on the exhibit of the same name and produced by the award-winning team that created Visions of Enlightenment, this interactive module provides teaching ideas and resources for educators.
Collection
Spotlight
Detail, Gathering of Foxes at Oji, Utagawa Hiroshige
In Japanese folklore foxes often
appear as divine beings with
supernatural powers, closely
associated with the Shino rice deity
Inari. In Hiroshige’s Gathering of
Foxes at Inari (shown in the Gallery of Japanese Art
from August 8), foxes congregate
on New Year’s Eve under a tree near
Oji, Tokyo’s main Inari shrine. The
flame-shaped bodies glow against
the dark background, creating a
great spooky effect. Click here to
learn more.
Current Exhibitions
May 1 - August 24, 2008 Pacifika: Young Perspectives on Pacific Island Art Necklace (lei niho palaoa),
Hawaii, 19th century
The first in a series of experimental, community-driven exhibits; Pacifika: Young Perspectives
on Pacific Island Art explores the arts, cultures, and traditions of the people of the Pacific Islands now living in Southern California. Issues regarding migration, ceremonial tattooing,
costumes and adornments will be explored through interpretive materials created by students
of Carson High School’s Pacific Islanders Club and UCLA’s Pacific Islands Student Association
(PISA).
February 8 - May 11, 2008 Lotus Moon:
The Art of Otagaki Rengetsu Sake Jar.
Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) was a Buddhist nun, a woman of great beauty and one of
Japan’s most celebrated artists. Admired primarily for her exquisite calligraphy, Rengetsu was
also a poet and ceramic artist, often inscribing her poems in her own calligraphy onto ceramic
vessels, a unique blending of art forms for any artist in Japanese history.
March 6 - July 27, 2008 Chinaman’s Chance:
Views of the Chinese
American Experience Names of the Unremembered: Transcontinental, Zhi Lin, video: Daniel Boord and Luis Valdovino
Three contemporary artists will examine the diverse Chinese American experience from the days of the Transcontinental Railroad’s construction to today.
Upcoming
Exhibitions
June 6, 2008 - January 6, 2009 Mingei East and West Sake bottle (tokurri), motif by Shoji Hamada, Japan, early 20th century Mingei literally means “folk art” in Japanese. Literary scholar and critic Yanagi Soetsu (1889–1961) coined the word in the 1920s to refer to and champion the kind of anonymous, handcrafted objects that had begun to disappear as Japan entered the age of mass production and western-oriented modernization. Yanagi and his followers revitalized the tradition
of handicraft by re-evaluating the beauty of utilitarian objects and spurring a new artistic movement dedicated to maintaining what they defined as essential Japanese values.
Did you know? Schools visit Pacific Asia Museum for free!
Available Wednesdays through Fridays, students get a docent tour of the museum plus a hands-on art workshop. Bus funding is even available for Title One schools, while funds last.
Events
Exhibits
Family Festivals
Lectures
Classes
Tours
