Page 27 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

for Cultural Heritage, China International
Exhibition Agency, and Art Exhibitions China to
begin planning.
To implement this striking and ambitious vision,
Sherman Lee, with the able support of Howard
Rogers, assembled an outstanding team of advisors
who not only wrote essays for this catalogue, but
also provided consultation on every aspect of the
exhibition, from issues of conservation to the
installation plan and educational materials. This
team includes the top specialists in their areas of
expertise: Helmut Brinker, Professor, University of
Zurich; James Cahill, Professor Emeritus, History of
Art, University of California, Berkeley; Elizabeth
Childs-Johnson, Visiting Scholar, New York
University; Patricia Ebrey, Professor, Department of
History, University ot Washington; Michael Knight,
Curator of Chinese Art, Asian Art Museum of San
Francisco; Regina Krahl, independent scholar,
affiliated with the Royal Museums of Art and
History, Brussels; Jenny So, Curator of Ancient
Chinese Art, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M.
Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.; Peter Sturman, Associate
Professor, Department of the History of Art and
Architecture, University of California, Santa
WuBarbara; Hung, Harrie A.Vanderstappen
Distinguished Service Professor in Chinese Art
History, University of Chicago; and Zhao Feng,
Professor, China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou.
In addition, the National Administration for
Cultural Heritage of the People's Republic of
China, our partner in the organization of the
traditional section of China: 5,000 Years, provided
scholarly assistance at all levels of the planning and Zhang Wenbin and Wang Limei at the National
development of the exhibition. Zhang Wenbin
assembled an impressive team of support for the
project, including the following prominent scholars
and high-level museum professionals who
contributed essays to this catalogue: Su Bai,
Professor, Beijing University; Yu Weichao, Director
of the National Museum of Chinese History,
Beijing; Ma Chengyuan, Director of the Shanghai
Museum; Wang Qingzheng, Deputy Director of the
Shanghai Museum; and Liu Jiu'an, Researcher,
Palace Museum, Beijing. Yang Yang, Yin Jia, Zhang
Jianxin, Qian Wei, and Chen Shujie of Art
Exhibitions China; Lu Chenglong and Xu Qixi.in
of the Palace Museum; Wang Changqi and
Gao Man of the Institute for the Protection of
Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Xi'an; Li Xuefang
of the Forest of Steles Museum, Xi'an; and Han
Jianwu of the Shaan.xi History Museum, Xi'an. also
provided important scholarly contributions and
research for this exhibition. June Mei skillfully
translated these essays.
There are always many, many important people to
INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
thank for helping put together an exhibition of this
complexity and scope. First of all, the task of
assembling such a broad range of material from a
wide range of sources demanded a unique
organizational structure and support at the highest
level. Our most sincere gratitude is extended to
President Jiang Zemin; the Honorable Li Peng,
Premier of the Peoples Republic of China; Vice
Premier and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen; and
the Honorable Liu Zhongde, Minister of Culture
of the People's Republic of China, without whose
support this project would never have been
realized. The Foreign Ministry- supported this
exhibition through the good offices of the
Honorable Li Daoyu, Ambassador of the People's
Republic of China to the United States, who
provided advice and consultation at important
Westages of the project. would like to extend our
most sincere thanks and gratitude to the Honorable
Qiu Shengyun, Consul General of the People's
Republic of China in New York. The complex task
—of organizing the specifics of the exhibition in
particular, arranging loans from the many lending
—institutions fell to the Ministry of Culture of the
People's Republic of China and, for the traditional
section, the National Administration for Cultural
Heritage. At the Ministry of Culture, I would like
to extend my personal thanks to Li Yuanchao,
Vice-Minister of Culture, and Ding Wei, Deputy
Director of the General Bureau of External
Cultural Relations, who were steadfast in their
support for the project and instrumental in
providing direction and focus. With particular
respect and friendship, we would like to single out
Administration for Cultural Heritage, without
whose professional and steadfast leadership, this
complicated and far-reaching exhibition would
never have come to fruition. This exhibition would
also not be possible without the support ot
Lei Congyun, Director of Art Exhibitions China,
and Yang Yang, Deputy Director of Art
Exhibitions China, who oversaw all the logistical
and organizational details, in addition to research
Weresponsibilities. are also indebted to the team
of specialists who accompanied the artworks from
NewChina for their installation in York; Shan
Guolin of the Shanghai Museum: Feng Xiaoqi ot
the Palace Museum. Beijing: and Chen Shujie ot
Art Exhibitions China. Our very special thanks go
to Hu Chui, photographer at the Palace Museum,
who spent many days and even months traveling
around China, applying Ins art 10 the task ol
photographing the objects in the exhibition.
The beautiful plates in this catalogue are testimony
to his uncompromising eye for quality and detail.
We will provide our extended thanks to the team
at the China I1ner11.111011.il I \lubition Agency in
our catalogue dedicated to the modern section of
the exhibition, but 1 would like to take this
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