'China in Yorkshire' is a museum and arts festival taking place during 2008 when China hosts the Olympics. Museums and galleries in Leeds, York, Sheffield and Keighley and many other Yorkshire places, are working with their local Chinese communities to celebrate the Chinese collections we have and the wide range of Chinese cultural activities taking place in the region. Here in Leeds we are organising two exhibitions:
Chinese Treasures at Lotherton Hall near Aberford, from 7 June to 31 December 2008, and
China, Local and Global in the Central Library, Leeds from 6 to 26 August 2008
We are working with groups belonging to Leeds Chinese Community Association and with others with a keen interest in Chinese culture. The exhibitions will cover the following themes:
To & Fro (connections between Yorkshire & China), Festivals and Faiths, Food & Drink, Clay & Ink, Fashion & Finesse, Performance and Play.
Leeds museums and galleries has over 1,900 Chinese items in its collections, and we hope to display over 400 of these this year. Last July parents and children from Leeds Chinese schools visited Lotherton Hall to get a taste of what the main venue has to offer. The photographer Yan Preston recorded this visit and has started working with Leeds Chinese Elders, Leeds Chinese Women, and the Yuk Ming Opera group. We are scanning photographs from previous Chinese events in Leeds and borrowing items from members of the Chinese community and other local collectors and institutions to put in both exhibitions. We also have a specialist researcher, Linda Rosen, translating Chinese inscriptions for us.
Why not visit My Learning to see some of the fantastic chinese objects we have in our collections!
The curator leading the Leeds Museums and Galleries project is Antonia Lovelace.
Contact details: Antonia Lovelace, Leeds Museum Discovery Centre, Carlisle Road, Hunslet, Leeds. Telephone 0113 214 1561.