Reviews
ART
Joint exhibition
Chen Lusheng, a veteran art historian with the National Art Museum of China, and Feng Shaoxie, a famed oil painter from South China's Guangdong Province, are holding their joint art exhibition at the Guangdong Academy of Chinese Arts. The exhibition ends on July 23.
On display are at least 40 oil paintings and Chinese ink paintings of the plum blossoms - a favorite subject matter of Chinese poets and artists, because plum blossoms have for centuries symbolized the moral integrity in the face of vicissitudes and ordeals.
Chen's rendering of the plum blossom is strictly in line with the birds-and-flowers painting tradition, while Feng's oil portraits of the flowers is a bold fusion of Western media and Chinese concepts, said director of National Art Museum of China Fan Di'an.
Zhu Linyong
Norwegian roots
Major players of the Chinese and Norwegian art world have a lot to talk about. And they talked up a storm last week at a two-day Norwegian Art Seminar in Beijing.
Organizers say that at the seminar, art aficionados of both worlds discussed the Sino-Norwegian Art Exchange agenda 2007-2009, the Network of Public-run Art Societies in Norway, Norwegian Art between 1800 and 2000, the launch of Chinese edition of the Handbook of Norwegian Art Societies, the studies on Edvard Munch and his art, and art market trends in Norway, organizers say.
Attended by about 100 artists, art scholars and critics, the international seminar was co-organized by the Beijing International Art Biennale organizing committee, the Norwegian Association of Art Societies, the National Museum of Norway, and The Munch Museum of Norway.
They also talked about the possibility of staging a Special Showcase of Norwegian classic and modern art in the 2008 Beijing International Art Biennale.
ZLY
Music
Night of jazz
The Time Arts Jazz Series at Peking University on June 24 would feature jazz with pizzazz and fantastic French chanson.
The dynamic Francois Bourassa Trio will team up with French singer Jeanne Rochette (pictured) at the university's Centenary Hall.
Composer and pianist Francois Bourassa, bassist Adrian Vedady and drummer Philippe Melanson would perform their hits from Reflet, Jeune Vieux Juene, Echo, Cactus, Live and Indefinite Time.
Born in 1978 in Paris, Jeanne Rochette starting reaching for her musical dreams at a young age, landing gigs in Europe and North America. Her Beijing show would feature performances of My Heart Belongs to Daddy, Cheek to Cheek, Les Feuilles Mortes and a handful of original compositions.
Formed in 1983, the Francois Bourassa Trio is one of the most popular and active jazz groups in Quebec. The group achieved a major breakthrough when they won the Concours Bose prize at The Montreal Jazz Festival in July of 1985.
For them, it was the first of a number of prestigious international music festivals.
The Trio mixes contemporary Jazz with traditional harmonies, combining the roots of jazz with touches of modern North American Music. Francois' compositions reveal his affinity for French impressionist composers, such as Faure, Debussy and Ravel. And he also takes inspiration from jazz giants such as Bud Powell, Miles Daivs, John Coltrane and Kenny Wheeler.
Chen Jie
(China Daily 06/22/2007 page20)
