CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Friday, September 25, 2020 | 17 LIFE SHANGHAI Matching paths of passion

By ZHANG KUN

A new exhibition at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai has brought together the writing and artworks of Henri Michaux and Mu Xin (the pen name of Sun Pu), both of whom shared the same passion for art, literature and exotic culture. The Sept 9 to Oct 11 exhibition marks the debut of both artists’ works in Shanghai. Jointly curat­ ed by Francois Michaud from France and Dong Qiang from Snoopy comes Peking University, the exhibition aims to “present the inherent connection and contrast between Michaux and Mu Xin, to initiate a cultural encounter in time traveling”, Dong said at the opening. to Shanghai Michaux (1899­1984) is an important poet and artist of 20th­century France, while Mu An exhibition marks the 70th anniversary of the Xin (1927­2011) became famous beloved cartoon character, reports. for his art and writing in China Zhang Kun only after his death. Michaud, a dedicated researcher of Michaux and a curator with the Musee d’Art noopy, the dog from Pean­ has garnered more than 3 billion Moderne de la Ville de Paris, uts, the comic series creat­ fans worldwide and become the learned about Mu Xin in 2015 ed by US artist Charles most popular dog in the world, Sun and had the idea of bringing the Schulz, has taken the spot­ says. The exhibition reviews classic two artists together for an exhi­ Slight of an ongoing exhibition at moments of Peanuts, and illustrates bition. He kept working on the the Museum of Contemporary Art its history and development. idea for four years, until he met in Shanghai. Twenty artists from China con­ Dong, who decided to help make The exhibition started on Sept 10 tributed their reinterpretations of it happen. and will run until Jan 4, 2021. the Peanut characters, placing them “I have always firmly believed This is the first time that Peanuts in the context of today’s society that Michaux’s work will be has collaborated with an art muse­ through paintings, sculptures, shown in China,” Dong said at um to put up a large­scale exhibition installations and AR­video projec­ the opening. since the Snoopy in Fashion exhibi­ tions. “I thought he would come tion in the Louvre in Paris in 1999, Sun attributes the success of across as one of the masters from according to Miriam Sun, executive Peanuts to Schulz’s ability to com­ the West, and shown alongside director of MoCA Shanghai. The ment about society and the world with them, just like in the great exhibition also marks the seventh through the point of view of chil­ art museums in the world. Animamix Biennial at the museum, dren. “I never expected, though, that which is located in People’s Park in “Schulz created a cast of charac­ his art could have been shown in downtown Shanghai. ters that we can all identify with,” such a great way, as Michaux “In the MoCA Animamix Bienni­ she says. himself would have approved — al, apart from exhibiting the works During the exhibition, Xin Wen, be shown in such an analogy and featuring classic Peanuts characters, an IT worker in Shanghai, shared dialogue with a bird of the same MoCA Shanghai has also invited 20 his long­time infatuation with feather from China.” artists and groups from China to Snoopy. Chen Danqing, a renowned collaborate with Peanuts and create If you go “Snoopy always dreams about Chinese artist and disciple of Mu exclusive crossover artworks for the stuff … he dreams about being a Xin, wrote in his short essay for occasion,” Sun told the media on the 10 am­6 pm, Monday­Sunday, fighter pilot, writing a great Ameri­ the exhibition: “Such is the con­ opening day. Sept 10­Jan 4, 2021. MoCA Shang­ can novel, traveling to the moon and nection between China and Starting with a scroll measuring hai, Building No 3 in People’s Park, keeping a bird for a pet … his writ­ France, Paris and Shanghai, Mu 18 meters long and 10 meters high 231 Nanjing Road West, Huangpu ing was rejected by publishers over Xin and Michaux, painting and by Wen Na, the exhibition takes visi­ district, Shanghai. 021­6327­0856. and over again, and yet he never poetry. Even the pandemic tors on a journey that includes the gave up,” the 35­year­old says. sweeping all over the world could First Encounter series painted by “How many of us in real life can not stop this yuanfen (predes­ Hong Kong artist and toy designer hold on to our dreams and never tined event) from happening.” Michael Lau, a writing class compromise with reality?” Both Michaux and Mu Xin led designed by Xu Min and a new The characters Upon the cartoonist’s retirement turbulent lives in times of war media installation by Wu Jian’an in 1999, former US president Bill and social disturbance. Michaux titled I’m the First Beagle Landing Charles Schulz Clinton wrote: “The characters taught himself to write poems on the Moon. created are more Charles Schulz created are more and draw graffiti. He was a fanat­ According to Sun, the exhibition than enduring icons. Charlie Brown, ic lover of Asian culture and was attempts to eliminate the bounda­ than enduring icons. Linus, Snoopy, Pig Pen and Lucy obsessed with Chinese calligra­ ries between art and animation, Charlie Brown, taught us all a little more about phy. fashion and tradition, technology Apart from exhibiting the works featuring classic Peanuts charac­ what makes us human. Virtually Mu Xin, on the other hand, and humanity. ters, MoCA Shanghai has also invited 20 artists and groups from Linus, Snoopy, Pig every day for a half century, Charles studied art in Shanghai in the “The exhibition combines the vir­ China to collaborate with Peanuts and create exclusive crossover Pen and Lucy taught Schulz has shown us that a comic 1940s. All his life he longed to tual with reality perfectly through artworks for the occasion. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY strip can transcend its small space experience European culture, the most advanced AR technology, us all a little more on the page. It can uplift; it can chal­ and took endless walks in Paris echoing the narrative theme ‘what a about what makes lenge; it can educate its readers even in his verses. wonderful day’,” she says. when the Peanuts comic strip on Feb 13, 2000, when the last strip as it entertains us.” “It was the same sharpness Schulz (1922­2000) began to pub­ debuted in seven newspapers. ran. Schulz died of a heart attack us human.” and subtlety that brought these lish his cartoon series about Schulz wrote and drew every strip the previous day. Bill Clinton, former US Contact the writer at two together,” Dong says. “They Snoopy and his friends in 1950, from its inception to the very end Over the past 70 years, Snoopy president [email protected] crossed paths traveling toward each other in their imagination and longing.” New show details the history of glassmaking

By ZHANG KUN mings’ creation titled Red Stack, If you go which features the combination of Humans first began making glass glass, copper and tin and several more than 4,000 years ago, but glass kiln­cast techniques including as an art form only became recog­ 10 am­5 pm, Tuesday­Sunday, slump casting, precision cutting, nized in the 1960s. Sept 5­March 7, 2021. Liuli China grinding and polishing. The work The ongoing exhibition at Liuli Museum, 25 Taikang Road, Huangpu highlights “his masterful grasp of China Museum in Shanghai, A district, Shanghai. 021­6467­2268. color and form, as well as his knowl­ Thread of Light — Colin Reid With 3 edge of watercolor”. A joint exhibition in Shang­ Generations of British Kiln­cast Colin Reid, one of Cummings’ hai features works by Henri Glass Artists, is now presenting a three generations of British kiln­ most prominent disciples, is also Michaux and Mu Xin. showcase of the development of cast glass artists have radically featured at the event. His exhibited PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY glass art in Britain over the past 50 transformed the field into a flour­ works include a collection that was years. ishing and robust discipline. inspired by the sea. The nine artists and their 36 crea­ “This exhibition will take audien­ Reid had collaborated with Loret­ tions have presented “almost a ces on a journey through the evolu­ ta H. Yang, co­founder of Liuli China If you go dynastic history of contemporary tion of contemporary British glass, Museum and a renowned glass art­ glass art in Britain”, says Chang Yi, its history, progression, break­ ist, for a displayed piece titled Loret­ 11 am­7 pm, Tuesday­Sunday, founding director of Liuli China throughs and innovations,” she says. ta’s Orchids. Yang designed the Sept 9­Oct 11. Power Station Museum. Visitors view glass works at the ongoing exhibition at Liuli China The exhibition starts with a show­ work to be delicate and a represen­ of Art Shanghai, 678 Miaojiang According to Chang, all the artists Museum in Shanghai, which showcases the development of glass case on Keith Cummings, a British tation of the tenacity of the orchid, Road, Huangpu district, involved in the fundamental art in Britain over the past 50 years. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY artist who authored The Techniques while Reid created a form of optical Shanghai. 021­3110­8550. changes in the history of glass art of of Kiln­formed Glass and A History glass with meticulous cuts for maxi­ Britain are being presented during of Glassforming. Known as the mum refraction. 9 am­5 pm, Tuesday­Sunday, the exhibition. “We have to learn about the communications department at founding father of British kiln­ Younger artists such as Sally Oct 14­Dec 15. Mu Xin Art “We have been introducing world, and we have to make our­ Liuli China Museum, says that it formed glass, Cummings has ush­ Fawkes and Karen Browning have Museum, Wuzhen, Tongxiang important glass­art creations to Asia selves seen and understood by the was only in the 1960s when glass ered in a new era of British glass and also brought new expressions with city, Zhejiang province. for the past 33 years … because we rest of the world, at the same time.” artists began to set up studios and continues to inspire young artists their experiments that feature new 0573­8873­1158. believe cultural exchange is a must, Jenny Tsai, curator of the exhibi­ explore creative expressions today, Tsai says. colors, textures and qualities of the and can’t be stopped,” says Chang. tion and head of the international through kiln­cast glass. Since then, On show at the exhibition is Cum­ materials.