Reawakening the Emperor's Private Paradise

The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem Massachusetts presents a talk on the conservation of the Qianlong Garden.

First created 235 years ago, the Qianlong Garden and its 27 lavishly decorated buildings have sat dormant for almost a century. A massive conservation project, slated for completion in 2019, will preserve and restore the complex and its furnishings to their original splendor. Come discover the intricate process that continues to reveal the Qianlong emperor's vision.
 
GALLERY TALKS
The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City
6, 6:30 and 7 pm

Nancy Berliner, Chinese art curator at PEM and curator of The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City, leads three 20-minute tours of the exhibition, focusing on the artistic techniques of several masterpieces and the more recent process of conserving them.
 
FILM
A Virtual Tour of Juanqinzhai | Ongoing, 6–7:30 pm | Morse Auditorium

The American premiere of A Virtual Tour of Juanqinzhai. This 20-minute film, produced by the Palace Museum, Beijing, takes you on an immersive journey through the Studio of Exhaustion from Diligent Service (Juanqinzhai in Chinese), the first building in the Qianlong Garden to be fully conserved and restored.
 
PRESENTATION
The Qianlong Garden | 7:30–8:30 pm | Morse Auditorium | Reservations by December 6

Curator Nancy Berliner explores the changing fates of the Qianlong Garden during the 200 years following the death of the Qianlong emperor. Henry Tzu Ng, executive vice president of World Monuments Fund (WMF), discusses the Qianlong Garden Conservation Project, a collaboration between the Palace Museum, Beijing, and WMF that began in 2001. He also presents the origins of certain works of art and the most noteworthy conservation accomplishments, focusing on those that incorporated modern scientific analysis with efforts to revive traditional craftsmanship. Learn about plans for the next decade of work. A reception follows the presentation.

Made possible by World Monuments Fund. The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City is open from 6 to 9 pm.