Join us for a free one-day workshop for educators at the Japanese American National Museum, hosted by the USC U.S.-China Institute and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. This workshop will include a guided tour of the beloved exhibition Common Ground: The Heart of Community, slated to close permanently in January 2025. Following the tour, learn strategies for engaging students in the primary source artifacts, images, and documents found in JANM’s vast collection and discover classroom-ready resources to support teaching and learning about the Japanese American experience.
Xu Bing: Monkeys Grasping for the Moon
"Monkeys Grasping for the Moon," a suspended sculpture designed specifically for the Sackler Gallery, was created by expatriate Chinese artist Xu Bing (b. 1955) as part of a solo exhibition of his work in October 2001 titled "Word Play: Contemporary Art by Xu Bing." It is on display at the Smithsonian.
When:
November 11, 2010 12:00am to June 1, 2011 12:00am
Where
"Monkeys Grasping for the Moon," a suspended sculpture designed specifically for the Sackler Gallery, was created by expatriate Chinese artist Xu Bing (b. 1955) as part of a solo exhibition of his work in October 2001 titled "Word Play: Contemporary Art by Xu Bing." The popular temporary display was re-created under Xu Bing's supervision to enable it to remain at the Sackler Gallery for permanent view. Highly skilled craftspeople from the Smithsonian's Office of Exhibits Central worked with Xu Bing and Sackler staff to engineer and fabricate this highly complex artwork, marking the first time the Smithsonian has worked directly with a contemporary artist to build an artwork.
Exhibition feature
Word Play: Contemporary Art by Xu Bing
Comprised of 21 laminated wood pieces which each form the word "monkey" in one of a dozen different languages, the linked vertebrates flow from the sky-lit atrium through the gallery's stairwell down to the third-level reflecting pool.
This work is based on a Chinese folk tale in which a group of monkeys attempt to capture the moon. Linking arms and tails, they form a chain reaching down from the branch of a tree to the moon's shimmering reflection on the surface of a pool lying beneath them, only to discover the things we work hardest to achieve may prove to be nothing but an illusion.
Visitors to the gallery will find a panel on every level of the museum guiding them through each represented language, which includes Indonesian, Urdu, Hebrew, Braille and eight others.
Xu Bing's monumental sculpture is presented by the family of Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Chiang Soong Mayling 1898-2003) in commemoration of her historic visits to the Joint Session of Congress in 1943 and a memorable return to the U.S. Capitol in 1995.
A quote from Madame Chiang's address to Congress on February 18, 1943 reads: "We in China, like you, want a better world, not for ourselves alone, but for all mankind, and we must have it."
Event Website URL:
Phone Number:
(202) 633-1000
Featured Articles
October 20, 2024
October 20, 2024
Please join us for the Grad Mixer! Hosted by USC Annenberg Office of International Affairs, Enjoy food, drink and conversation with fellow students across USC Annenberg. Graduate students from any field are welcome to join, so it is a great opportunity to meet fellow students with IR/foreign policy-related research topics and interests.
RSVP link: https://forms.gle/1zer188RE9dCS6Ho6
Events
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 - 3:00pm
Hosted by USC Annenberg Office of International Affairs, enjoy food, drink and conversation with fellow international students.
Thursday, November 7, 2024 - 4:00pm
Join us for an in-person conversation on Thursday, November 7th at 4pm with author David M. Lampton as he discusses his new book, Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War. The book examines the history of U.S.-China relations across eight U.S. presidential administrations.