Two women in their 50s stand beholding in front of Guanyin of the South China Sea, an ancient Chinese sculpture in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Over the past 20 years, they have been visiting the museum, describing the "mother Buddha" as "beautiful and tranquil, a symbol of religious traditions in China". Measuring 2.4 meters high, 1.68 meters wide and 1.1 meters thick, the larger-than-life sculpture was carved from the trunk of a single poplar tree, which has created a sense of calm and warmth in the hall.
Since its launch in 1933, the museum has been actively collecting, preserving, studying and exhibiting works of Chinese art, ranging from ceramics to furniture, and from paintings to sculptures. And its Chinese art collection contains masterpieces in various historical stages.
An exhibition on the theme of Lively Creatures—Animals in Chinese Art was held at the museum, displaying tens of Chinese ancient paintings with images of animals in many art forms. The creatures on the paintings represented celebration, personal messages, and even political and religious agendas.
Organizers of the exhibition produced a set of cards, with images of animals on one side and their cultural meanings in Chinese artistic tradition on the other. The cards are provided for visitors for free.
"I find it very interesting, and the way that the things are drawn is very cool," says 17-year-old high school student Camden Lombard after visiting the exhibition. "I want to go to China someday to find more," he adds.
"It's kind of eye-opening and we're bringing the world together," says Makar, an educator with the school outreach and education programs of the museum. "There are so many similarities as well as beautiful differences, and we are just trying to understand and appreciate one another."
"We're in a moment when it's sometimes hard to look outside of your own personal viewpoints," says Howard, manager of volunteer engagement at the museum. "I think having access to seeing what other cultures have created, what they valued and appreciated, and what was important to them, is really important in building that understanding about all the people we share this planet with."
