'New Buddhist Art From China´ opening at Connecticut College : The Buddhist Channel, April 2, 2006

NEW LONDON, Conn. (USA) -- Ning Qiang, Chu-Niblack Associate Professor of Art History at Connecticut College, will give a gallery talk at the opening reception for the Charles Chu Asian Art Reading Room spring exhibition, "New Buddhist Art from China: Paintings by Gao Shan and Wang Feng" on Wednesday, April 12, at 4:30 p.m. in the Chu Reading Room in Shain Library.

The public is invited to attend this free event. The exhibition will continue through May 12.

Buddhist art has a long history in China and other East Asian countries. As a major genre in the visual culture of medieval China, Buddhist art represented the social mentality and religious passion of the Chinese people for 2,000 years until the Cultural Revolution (1966- 1976) under Communist rule. Contemporary artists started to re-examine this great tradition after Chairman Mao´s death in 1976 and have been trying to establish a new foundation for religious art, particularly Buddhist art, since then.

This exhibition features works by artists Gao Shan and Wang Feng, who studied the cave art at Dunhuang, the holy site of traditional Buddhist art in the desert of northwestern China, in the 1980s and produced a great number of new Buddhist paintings based upon their understanding and interpretation of the ancient paintings and sculptures.

Ranked among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 42 states and 41 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 84-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit http://www.connecticutcollege.edu/.