Xavier to celebrate ancient Chinese art and inventions

The Confucius Institute at Xavier University of Louisiana will host a colloquium titled “Enjoying Chinese and African Art” on Thursday, May 9, in the University Center Room 201.

Top experts on Chinese and African art in the New Orleans region will discuss innovative strategies and approaches in presenting such art in museums so that visitors will both learn and enjoy viewing African and Chinese works.

It’s the beginning of a busy month for the Confucius Institute, which will also represent China at the World’s Fair at Louisiana Children’s Museum on Sunday, May 11, and present at the Audubon Zoo’s Asian Heritage Festival on Sunday, May 25.

The colloquium will include formal presentations, starting at 9:00 a.m., by Dr. Yu Jiang, Director of the Confucius Institute; Dr. Mora Beauchamp-Byrd, XU assistant professor of Art History; MaPo Kinnord-Payton, XU associate professor of Art; Lisa Rodondo-McCord, deputy director for Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Asian Art; Bill Fagaly, emeritus curator of African Art, both at the New Orleans Museum of Art; Dr. David Riep, SUNO assistant professor of Museum Studies; and Adwale Adenle, Texas Tech visiting assistant professor of Drawing and Painting.

In the afternoon, participants will be invited to tour the New Orleans Museum of Art, with both admission fees paid, and an opportunity to listen to Chinese and African art experts talking about the collection in the museum.

The Confucius Institute will collaborate with Sandra Pierre-Kazi, President & CEO of New Orleans Worldwide Concepts Vacations, to represent China at the World’s Fair at Louisiana Children’s Museum.

“Four Great Inventions of China,” including compass, paper making, print making, and gun powder, will be presented in line with this year’s STEM (Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics) theme of the World’s Fair.

In addition to text, illustrations, and interactive sessions on these four inventions, there will be demonstrations on Chinese calligraphy and painting, and paper making. A Chinese abacus training and contest (as well as prizes) will be held during the event, as will food tasting.

There will be lanterns, bookmarks, dragon masks, zodiac wheel, quizzes, and balloons to enrich the various activities, while Chinese dancing, instrumental art, and vocal art will be performed.

The Confucius Institute will present the achievements of Xavier students in learning Mandarin Chinese, and multiple aspects of Chinese culture and language at the Asian Heritage Festival. The presentation will include posters about Xavier, the Mandarin program on campus, Chinese history and culture, and a Chinese calligraphy demonstration. There will also be interactive activities. The Confucius Institute will also manage the Children’s tent at the festival.

For more information on the Confucius Institute at Xavier or to learn more about the future events, visit www.xula.edu/confucius, email confucius@xula.edu or call (504) 520-7237.

This article originally published in the May 6, 2013 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.