MCLC: Dragon and the Butterfly exhibition

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Silvia Calamandrei <silvia.calamandrei at alice.it>
Subject: Dragon and the Butterfly exhibition
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The dragon and the butterfly: an art and culture exhibition on China
http://www.biblioteca.montepulciano.si.it/node/533

The Library and Archive ³Piero Calamandrei² of Montepulciano has a
precious collection of ancient books on China, as well as a rather large
choice of modern books on China legated  by the Calamandrei family and
other donors, showing a strong link with Chinese contemporary history.

With the support of the Municipality,  and in cooperation with the
Confucius Institute of Pisa, the Library  is preparing an
exhibition on Chinese art and culture and on cultural exchanges between
Italy and China, that will take place from  July 18th to August 15th 2012
in the Fortress of Montepulciano.

The event  will be a follow up of previous initiatives aimed to improve
the knowledge of contemporary China, the most
important of which was the conference on ³Europe and China: a new Silk
road² (2007), a meeting of experts and media representatives on economics,
culture and spirituality,  civil society, discussing recent developments
in mutual relationships in the context of globalisation (among the Chinese
participants Professors Luo Hongbo, Wen Tiejun, Wang Hui, RenYanli and the
writer A Cheng). This time we wish to show 6 paintings of Qi Baishi, from
the Calamandrei family collection, as well as 16 inks of a contemporary
artist, Zhang Jin (Beijing), and  26 watercolours of Professor Xu Shihu
from Chongqing University .

The exhibition, presenting artworks of exceptional quality, as well as
precious collections of books from the Library, will be an opportunity to
expand the cultural relations between China and Tuscany, to stimulate the
visitors to acquire a better knowledge of Chinese culture and to encourage
 Chinese tourists to visit Montepulciano, the ³Pearl of Renaissance². We
are thinking also of the second generation of Chinese residents in Italy,
who may admire masterpieces of their national
Culture.

Among the sponsors: the EU Commission,  the Ministry of Culture, the
Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing, the Oriental Art Museum of Rome,
the University for Foreign Students of Siena, the Tuscany-China
Association,  the Tuscany Region and the Province of Siena.

A space of the exhibition will document the developments of the
relationships between Tuscany and China, in trade and culture, as well as
significant examples of cooperation.