BEIJING OPERA  

3 — 26 August, 2018 

Museum of contemporary art  «ARTETAGE», Vladivostok, Russia

Curator: Inna Dodomova

Artists: Chen Su (陈), Tang Guo (唐果), Fan Chuan Jie (范传杰), Zhou Yong (周勇), He Qiang (何强), Zhao Bing (赵冰), Li Meng (李猛), Huang Jian (黄健), Li Chun Quan (李春泉), Yang Xian (杨贤), Jia Yong (杨加勇), Kuang Ming Hui (邝明恵), Chang Shi Jiang (常世江), Cheng Ming Hua (陈明华)

Beijing Opera is the most popular musical genre in China. This kind of opera was born more than 200 years ago. In the process of forming the Peking Opera absorbed the most interesting features of regional operas, it was strongly influenced by the Beijing dialect, traditions, customs and habits of the life of this city. Although the opera was born in Beijing, it can not be called local, in many regions of China there are troupes of the Beijing Opera. 

The Beijing opera combines singing, recitative, traditional poses and acrobatics. All scenic movements and mise-en-scenes are conditional, clearly developed and bearing a certain concrete semantic load, such as: anger, laughter, crying. In the acrobatic part, opposite are joined examples of dance, kung fu and acrobatics.

The Beijing Opera contains many traditionally fixed conventions. For example, an oar in his hands indicates that the actor is riding in a boat, whip, that the hero jumps on a horse. There are no scenery in the opera, but there are conditional movements indicating that the actor rises or descends the stairs, opens the door, etc. These movements are always stylized, but the public understands their meaning.

Beijing Opera is not only the music of ancient China, not only classical choreography, it is also a vivid mosaic of life for all layers of traditional Chinese society. 

All present can get in touch with the art of painting of China and feel how fascinating it is, especially when it shows us the charm of traditional Chinese opera and its unique artistic form. 

The exhibition will impress the visitor, opening up to him new facets of Chinese culture, thereby giving new impetus to the cultural development of cooperation between Russia and China. 

The exhibition presents the view of fourteen artists from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and other Chinese cities to the traditional genre of the Beijing opera.