CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY COMES TO OU’S FRED JONES JR. MUSEUM OF ART

kh/3-14-08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                            

CONTACT: Kristal J. Hamm,
(405) 325-3178 or khamm@ou.edu


        NORMAN – Beginning Friday, April 18, visitors to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma will have the opportunity to see “China: Insights” an exhibition that brings together the work of seven photographers from mainland China: Chen Yuan Zhong, Hua Er, Jia Yu Chuan, Li Nan, Yang Yan Kang, Yu Haibo and Zhang Xinmin. Collectively, these photographers have numerous publications, exhibitions and awards to their credit, but little of their work has appeared outside mainland China. None of these projects have yet to be seen in the West.

        A public opening reception will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Sandy Bell Gallery. At 7:30 p.m., the University Chamber Ensemble will perform Another Year in Beijing, 2007 by Zhao Fang, directed by Steven Curtis, director of the OU School of Music.

        “China: Insights” is a traveling exhibition organized and circulated by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis, Minn., with production assistance from Flying Dragon Cultural Enterprises Ltd., Hong Kong, and curated by A.D. Coleman and Gu Zheng. This exhibition has been made possible, in part, by a generous contribution from Ruth and Harold Newman. It will remain on view at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art through Aug. 17.

        “Contemporary photography is one of the best art mediums to interact with students of different academic backgrounds. All of them will have the opportunity to have a better understanding of mainland China and broaden their knowledge of other cultures.” said Ghislain d'Humieres, director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.

        The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art also is pleased to partner with the OU Institute for US-China Issues to present a Chinese cinema festival, “Using Film to Understand State-Society Relations in Contemporary China (1949 to the present),” in conjunction with the opening. The festival, which is free to the public, is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, April 17-18, in the Mary Eddy and Fred Jones Auditorium. Stanley Rosen, director of the East Asian Studies Center and professor of political science at the University of Southern California, will be the moderator for the festival.

        Also scheduled is a lecture on Friday, April 25, titled “China Through the Looking Glass: Consumerism and Cultural Dislocation in Contemporary China,” at 1:30 p.m. in the Mary Eddy and Fred Jones Auditorium. Alan Atkinson, lecturer in history and art history at OU, will examine the impact of consumer culture on contemporary Chinese life, as documented in the exhibition “China: Insights.”

        “This is an exhibition that shows people things they didn’t know about things they didn’t know about contemporary China. I hope my lecture will help provide a context for some of what they will see,” Atkinson said.

        Admission to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is free to all OU students with a current student ID and all museum association members, $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children 6 to 17 years of age, $2 for OU faculty/staff, and free for children 5 and under. Admission is free on Tuesdays.  For information and accommodations on the basis of disability, please call (405) 325-4938.

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