Voices: Art Linking Asia and the West

Dec. 4, 2018 – Dec. 21, 2019

This exhibition is part of the Beach Museum of Art’s yearlong program Silk Road through Kansas. The Silk Road was a network of trade routes linking Asia with the Mediterranean, Africa, and Europe by land and sea. It flourished from the second century BCE to the mid-fifteenth century, moving people, ideas, art, and trade goods. The “Voices” installation demonstrates the exchanges, intermingling, and occasional clash of cultures between East Asia and the West. Works from the Beach Museum of Art’s collection include Roger Shimomura’s Martin Cheng: Painter and Fisherman (1991) and Fan of Cheese and Sausage Pizza (2005) by Margo Kren. Also featured is a work from the Historic Costume and Textile Museum: a nineteenth-century Chinese painting of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child with Saint Joseph, which fused Chinese landscape painting and Buddhist traditions with a Christian subject matter and some European painting techniques. This exhibition is a collaboration among Curator Aileen June Wang and University of Kansas Kress Foundation Department of Art History professors Sherry Fowler and Maki Kaneko.

Silk Road through Kansas is organized in partnership with regional art institutions to offer a contemporary Kansas interpretation of the Silk Road, demonstrating the ways travel and exchanges continue today. Related exhibitions and public events will be at the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University, the Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University, the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, and the University of Kansas’ Spencer Museum of Art. Visit their websites for more information.

Programs at KSU are organized in partnership with the KSU Asian American Student Union.

Major support for the Silk Road through Kansas program at the Beach Museum of Art is provided by grants from the Kansas State University Confucius Institute and the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation’s Lincoln & Dorothy I. Deihl Community Grant Program, with additional sponsorship by the Manhattan Broadcasting Company. A Big Twelve Faculty Fellowship is providing additional support for Professors Fowler and Kaneko’s projects.

Related Events

Thursday, January 24, 2019, 5 - 7 p.m.
East Meets West Game Night
Many of the games we play today originated from various countries in Asia and the Middle East, including Chess, Mancala, Go, Parcheesi and Snakes and Ladders. Come in from the cold and join us for an evening of games, hot chocolate, and cookies.

Thursday, February 14, 2019, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Search for Simurgh Talk/Performance
Assistant Professor of Dance Kate Digby shares her work on the immersive, interactive performance installation Search for Simurgh. She is collaborating with experimental media artists and scientists. The piece draws on the writings of artist Roya Movafegh, who escaped Iran during the revolution and settled in Canada, then moved to the United States.

Friday, February 22, 2019, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
“Silk Road to Kansas: East Asian Art and Global Flow” Symposium
During the fall 2018 semester, KU art history professors Sherry Fowler and Maki Kaneko team-taught a graduate seminar, “Silk Road to Kansas: East Asian Art & Global Flow,” as part of the the Silk Road through Kansas project. The seminar students conducted research on objects related to the theme of exchange in the collections of the Beach Museum of Art and the Mulvane Art Museum. At this symposium, they present their research to the public.

Thursday, February 28, 2019, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
Film screening of the documentary about renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the story of how he brought together the international musical collective The Silk Road Ensemble. Discussion after the screening. Light refreshments provided.

Thursday, March 28, 2019, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Just Doug and Ella: Film Screenings and Discussion with Director Dan Chen
Dan Chen grew up in Manhattan, Kansas, and now works as a filmmaker in Los Angeles. His films tell stories about being Asian American in Hollywood and growing up Asian American in a small Midwest town. Reception to follow.

Thursday, April 18, 2019, 5:30 p.m.
The History and Art of Tea
Talk and demonstration by University of Illinois Professor Emeritus Shozo Sato, a master of traditional Zen arts and recipient of the Order of Sacred Treasure from the Emperor of Japan for his contributions in teaching Japanese traditions.