About the Shanghai Museum Walk in Shanghai
The Shanghai Museum boasts one of the world's greatest collections of ancient Chinese art in the world. Spanning from the Neolithic period to the Qing dynasty, and including such diverse objects as ceramics, painting, and sculpture, the Shanghai Museum offers a wonderful survey of Chinese art history for the visitor.
In this three-hour tour of the Shanghai Museum we'll join a scholar of Asian art for an in-depth look at the collection, making our way through the galleries to highlight key works that tell of story of China’s 5000 years of art history and culture.
We'll begin with an introduction to Chinese history and art forms in the comfort of the 2nd floor cafe over a cup of Chinese tea. We'll look at the major periods of history and their significant art forms in order to create a framework for enjoying the entire collection. We will start with the oldest objects first by visiting the Bronze Gallery to look at ritual vessels which represent the foundation of several Chinese tradit
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The Shanghai Museum boasts one of the world's greatest collections of ancient Chinese art in the world. Spanning from the Neolithic period to the Qing dynasty, and including such diverse objects as ceramics, painting, and sculpture, the Shanghai Museum offers a wonderful survey of Chinese art history for the visitor.
In this three-hour tour of the Shanghai Museum we'll join a scholar of Asian art for an in-depth look at the collection, making our way through the galleries to highlight key works that tell of story of China’s 5000 years of art history and culture.
We'll begin with an introduction to Chinese history and art forms in the comfort of the 2nd floor cafe over a cup of Chinese tea. We'll look at the major periods of history and their significant art forms in order to create a framework for enjoying the entire collection. We will start with the oldest objects first by visiting the Bronze Gallery to look at ritual vessels which represent the foundation of several Chinese traditions, including ancestor worship. We will then move on to the Sculpture Gallery to see the transformation of Buddhism in China, a foreign religion imported from India, and then to the Ceramics Galleries to see the evolution of one of the world’s most widely traded commodities, Chinese porcelain. After a brief introduction of the Chinese literati tradition, we will look at Chinese painting, calligraphy, and seals (name stamps) in their respective galleries to understand how these art forms came to represent the cultivation of the scholarly gentleman. Time depending, we will also try to visit the Jade, Currency, Ming and Qing Furniture, and Ethnic Minorities Galleries to experience other aspects of China’s rich history and culture.
Our course through the museums can take many forms, depending on the specific interests of the group and the direction of our conversation. As this tour is intended to be a kind of walking seminar, we let the itinerary be shaped by the interests of the group and the intellectual proclivities of your docent. That said, we'll aim to cover all the major sections of the museum. We'll dig in deep on a number of art forms—like calligraphy—that are foreign to the west but hold great significance in China and try to give you a context for deeper appreciation. At the end we'll emerge from our time together with a better understanding of Chinese art and its relation to the larger sphere of Chinese culture and history.
