Date：2018-08-08The Exhibition of Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage Opened

The exhibition with the topic “Culture across Ancient and Modern - Exhibition of Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage in Daily Life” is hosted by Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and TV and Shanghai Municipal People's Government Foreign Affairs Office, organized by Shanghai Art Collection Museum, Shanghai Art & Design Academy, Shanghai Culture and Art Archive and Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It is not only one of the most important cultural exchange activities of the “Belt and Road”, but also a reflection of the friendship between China and Egypt. In addition, it is the first time for Shanghai intangible cultural heritage to be displayed on a well-known world stage comprehensively.

The exhibition selected more than 130 representative exhibits provided by intangible cultural heritage protection departments, institutions, and inheritors in Shanghai, which include Jinshan farmer paintings, Shanghai-style woolen tapestries, Shanghai-style silk works, opera costumes, Shanghai jade carving works, Jiading bamboo carving works, gold and silver processing technology and other intangible cultural heritage protection projects from Shanghai.

The exhibition hall is divided into four areas with the names of “Life as Painting”, “Gorgeous Brocades and Silk Articles”, “Beauty in the Square” and “Elegant Melody”. The Exhibition Area 1 is a selection of more than 20 paintings by farmer artists from Jinshan, Shanghai. Jinshan farmer painting, which is concluded into the Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2007, is one of the traditional Jiangnan folk arts in Shanghai with diverse themes, novel design, bright colors as well as unadorned and childish painting styles and also has a unique appeal of watery region. The series beautiful Jinshan farmer paintings describe and highly appreciate a rising new era with sincere emotions, simple shapes, and bright colors. They are regarded as contemporary folk paintings with strong national characters and high artistic level. From the idyllic and poetic scenery of the countryside to the images of rapid development of modern cities, the artists present the daily life in Shanghai to the audiences in a new way.

The Jinshan Farmer Painting Golden Harvest
From Shanghai Culture & Arts Archive

The Jinshan Farmer Painting Return from Fishing
From Shanghai Culture & Arts Archive

The Exhibition Area 2 demonstrates the top level of opera costumes and silk weaving art in Shanghai. The selection covers gorgeous costumes, accessories and figure paintings of Beijing Opera and Kun Opera, art archives, Song brocades, Yun brocades and tapestry weaving works that were listed in the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage List, Shanghai-style woolen tapestries which are known as "oil painting of the East” with a history of more than 100 years and other forms of art such as silk gauze which is as light as the wings of cicada. The Chinese silk art has caught the eye of Western people due to the ancient Silk Road and is still quite popular nowadays around the world.

A Peking Opera Costume
From Shanghai Culture & Arts Archive

The embroidery Fog, Rain and Pond
From Shanghai Art & Design Academy

The Shanghai-style Woolen Tapestry Forest Scenery
From Hengyuanxiang (Group) Co., Ltd.

The Exhibition Area 3 is a selection of more than 50 traditional Chinese intangible cultural heritage arts and crafts, which includes woodblock printing, wood carving works, jade carving works, gold, silver and copper crafts, ceramics, glass, lacquer works and other traditional handicrafts. The exhibits are made of various materials including rosewood, aspen wood, ruby, emerald, crystal, amber, enamel, pearl, fish skin, wool and other comprehensive materials, using inlay, gold plating, wire inlay and other techniques. These exquisite and small art works show the creative ideas of Chinese intangible cultural heritage inheritors and extraordinary charm of traditional Chinese arts and crafts.
 

The Woodblock Printing White Camellia by Zhang Daqian
From Shanghai Duoyunxuan Group

The Wood Carving Artwork Happy Time
From Shanghai Art & Design Academy

The jewelry Longevity
From Shanghai Art & Design Academy

The jewelry Green Knight Series
From Shanghai Art & Design Academy

The Exhibition area 4 displays around 10 limited edition musical instruments, such as bamboo weaving Pipa, bamboo weaving Yueqin, new instruments of “Dunhuang” series, etc. The instruments are made of rose sandalwood, sour wood and other precious materials, integrating traditional Chinese techniques such as enamel, lacquer painting, engraving, inlaying and so on, showing Chinese people’s ultimate pursuit of the beauty of music and instruments. The inheritors of the intangible cultural heritage express their aesthetic opinions in the progress of making these instruments. The theme of those instruments covers the beauty of four seasons, the Shanghai life style, the charm of Qipao, etc. Those elegant musical instruments bring a brand new art experience and splendid Chinese musical culture to the audiences.

Traditional Musical Instruments Lotus Liuqin
From Shanghai No.1 National Musical Instruments Factory

Traditional Musical Instruments Guzheng: Spring Flowers
From Shanghai No.1 National Musical Instruments Factory

The exhibition is located in the international landmark of culture and art. Alexandria is a Mediterranean city with the history of thousand years. It is a place where the civilizations of ancient Greek and Rome meet and integrate with each other, where Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the oldest library in the world was established, where the business men arrive and depart for the trades on the Silk Road. By holding the exhibition in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina with thereputation of “Cultural Center in the Mediterranean Sea” and grand architecture, Chinese hosts hope to show the charm of cultural exchange of “The Belt and Road” and promote Chinese culture onto the world stage in a better way.

The exhibition has gained the great support from related governmental departments of China and Egypt. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Culture of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Alexandria Governorate of Egypt, Embassy of Egypt in China, Consulate General of Egypt in Shanghai, Alexandria University, Embassy of P.R.China in Egypt, Consulate General of P.R.China in Alexandria, China Cultural Center in Cairo and other institutions all attached great importance to the exhibition.

The exhibition will last for one month until August 27th, 2018.