U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE)
Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong
It’s not everyday that VMFA is cited by the U.S. Secretary of State and the Vice Premier of China.
Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
November 21, 2013
Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong co-chaired the fourth annual U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) in Washington on Nov. 21. The CPE aims to enhance and strengthen ties between the citizens of the United States and the People’s Republic of China in the areas of culture, education, science and technology, sports, and women’s issues.
Culture: Since the re-establishment of bilateral relations in 1979, cultural exchanges have played an important role in people-to-people engagement between the United States and China. At today’s meeting, the culture working group decided to continue its outreach efforts to young audiences through the performing and visual arts and to continue cooperation between cultural institutions, representatives, and scholars:
• Ministry of Culture of China: The Ministry of Culture supports cultural programs, including cultural dialogue, performing and visual art exchange, and collaboration on art production between the two countries. The Ministry of Culture and the National Endowment for the Humanities of the United States have begun discussions for the Fourth U.S.-China. Cultural Forum, which is to be held in the United States. The Ministry of Culture will continue to sponsor art groups from China to participate in festivals and other events in the United States that will increase the recognition of Chinese culture by the American people, especially among young people. Other Chinese institutions continue to collaborate with U.S. arts organizations, including the Palace Museum of China and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; National Theatre Company of China and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and the Suzhou Kun Opera Theatre and the Lincoln Center Festival.
VMFA’s collaboration is Forbidden City: Imperial Treasures from the Palace Museum, Beijing. The exhibition runs October 18, 2014 – January 11, 2015 and is part of a groundbreaking, multi-year cultural exchange between the two organizations.The curator is VMFA’s Li Jian, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Curator of East Asian Art.
Forbidden City will feature 180 works of art from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. The largest art museum in China and the largest palace in the world, the Palace Museum is located in the center of Beijing within the ancient Imperial Palace, where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties resided from 1420 until 1924 when the last emperor was expelled. The Palace Museum was established in 1925 and holds more than 1.8 million works of art and artifacts. The exhibition will offer a broad perspective of Imperial China during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties with a focus on the 17th and 18th centuries.
Featured works—ranging from portraits of emperors and empresses, court paintings, religious sculpture, and ritual objects to fine ceramics, bronzes, lacquerware, jade, costumes, textiles, and furniture—will be combined with 3-D virtual technology and architectural features, which will create an experience that will replicate the Forbidden City during the height of its glory and splendor.
Read the full document from the Department of State.
~Suzanne Hall, Chief Communications Officer