Listings: Beijing
STAGE
A series of acrobatic gala shows are on stage at the weekend, featuring award-winning acts from acrobatic troupes around the country. They include Swaying Pole Climbing, Technique of Standing Upside Down and Bench Jumping.
7:30 pm, April 12-15
Beizhan Theater, Xizhimenwai Dajie, Haidian District
6835-4455
A grand Hip-Hop dance is coming soon from the French Kafig and Beijing Modern Dance companies. Choreographer Mourad Merzouki endows the show with the energy of hip-hop and the melody of violin.
7:30 pm, April 15
Haidian Theater, 84 Haidian Lu
6255-8026
The Chinese Acrobatics Group, established in 1950, has toured more than 80 countries, won numerous international awards and has helped foster friendships between China and other nations. Its performance includes traditional acrobatics, a circus show, magic, old Beijing folk plays and more. The show blends music, dance, local opera and martial arts.
7:30 pm, daily
Tiandi Theater, Dongsi Shitiao, 100 m north of Poly Theater, Chaoyang District
6416-9893
CONCERTS
The Norwegian band Secret Garden will mark its sixth tour to China, with a concert at the Great Hall of the People on May 2. Constituted by Norwegian composer Rolf and Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry (pictured right) in 1994, the Secret Garden made history by winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1995 with Nocturne. Between 1996 and 2004, Secret Garden successfully launched seven records, which have been released in more than 80 countries and have sold three million albums.
7:30 pm, May 2
West of Tiananmen Square
8421-6765, 8421-6764
A feast of Russian musician Shchedrin's works is on the way. His works, including symphony, piano concerto and operas, are famed for their intense and dramatic features.
7:30 pm, April 13
National Center for the Performing Arts, west of Tian'anmen Square
5883-6800
The traditional instruments concert presented by the China Central Nationalities Orchestra include ensemble, wind and string music and chorus. Established in 1960 in Beijing, the orchestra has toured around the world and is known for its performance of folk music.
7: 30 pm, April 15
Concert Hall of China Central Nationalities Orchestra, 15 Xiaoying Lu, Chaoyang District
6493-3876
English-born conductor and composer Bramwell Tovey will lead the China Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in its seasonal concert. Programs include Alexander Glazunov's Violin Concerto in A minor Op 82 and Edward Elgar's Symphony No 1 in A-flat Major Op 55. Violinist: Wen Wei.
7:30 pm, April 13
Forbidden City Concert Hall in Zhongshan Park, Northwest of Tian'anmen Square
6559-8285
Exhibitions
Guo Weiqu (1908-1971) is widely considered a pioneering Chinese artist of the traditional Chinese birds-and-flowers painting. A grand retrospective show is on at the National Art Museum of China to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth in Weifang, Shandong province. Born into a rich family, Guo received strict training in traditional Chinese arts and culture and was later heavily influenced by Western art and culture introduced to China after the May Fourth New Culture Movement in the 1920s.
9 am -5 pm, until April 16
National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District
6403-4952
Entitled Green Olympics, Green China, the exhibition presents more than 200 oil paintings, ink paintings, and calligraphic works that depict Chinese wildlife, landscapes and ancient Chinese sports. The works, from veteran artists across the country, will later go to auction to support China Green Foundation's effort to fight desertification in the Northwestern regions.
9 am -5 pm, until April 12
National Art Museum of China
Artist Ole Lislerud, from Norway's Oslo National Academy of the Arts, entitles the show as Metaphorical Signs, in which he questions the identity of people through different signs of the consumer society.
9 am-4 pm, until April 13
Today Art Museum, 32 Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District
5876-9690
China National Geography will launch a photography show this weekend at Peking University. Focusing on nature and environmental protection, the show will coincide with World Earth Day on April 22 and tour five universities around China over the next two months. The exhibits' 50 photographs appeal for public awareness of environmental protection.
10 am-5 pm
Peking University, Haidian District
6484-2130
A joint show of Ai Weiwei, Zhao Bandi, Shu Yong and An Di touches on a range of fields including art, fashion, architecture and the media. Entitled Body Media, the show aims to widen the conventional boundary of artistic creation.
10 am-5 pm
Tang Contemporary Art, 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District
6436-3518
Early works by 21 established contemporary artists are on show. Yue Minjun's oil on canvas combines images of Eastern people with Western architecture. Ji Dachun concentrates his brush on the center of the tableau, leaving room for interpretation. Zen Fanzhi employs heavy lines and color to produce a kind of impressionist flavor.
10 am-7 pm, until April 12
Triumph Art Space, 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District
8459-9639
Oil paintings and photographs by Liu Yang, Cun Ce focus on the damage that industrial civilization has inflicted on nature.
11 am-7 pm, until April 13
Red Star Gallery, 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District
6437-0781
Outward Expressions, Inward Reflections is a collection of works by five photographers. Adou's pictures focus on the landscapes and people of the western China. Cai Weidong captures ancient calligraphy works and paintings.
10 am-6 pm, until April 13
Three Shadows Photography Art Center, 155 Caochangdi, Chaoyang District
Silk-screen engraving works by artists such as Yue Minjun, Zhu Wei and five others portray famous figures and landscapes.
9 am-4 pm, until April 15
A Space, Pingguo Community, Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District
5971-2048
After the success of his first installation series, Flower Bird Fish and Insect, Lu Hao has continued to examine traditional Chinese culture with oil paintings and landscapes, focusing on ever-changing cityscapes.
11 am-6 pm, until April 15
Beijing Commune, East End Arts, 319-1 Caochangdi Village, Chaoyang District
6432-0192
Young artist Ouyang Chun is holding his solo exhibition in Beijing. A highlight of the exhibition is what he calls the Column of Infinity. It features an over 10 m long steel pole that pierces through a smorgasbord of daily objects, ranging from a LV handbag, a TV set, an electric boiler, an old marriage certificate, a bird cage, and instant noodles, to a traditional Chinese dictionary, a vintage porcelain pot, as well as the artist's oil self-portrait. Ouyang bought some of the objects from shopping malls and dirt markets. More are from netizens who donated things between late February and early March.
The fake "totem pole," the artist says, reveals his ideas about consumerism.
10 am- 6 pm, until May 6
Star Gallery, 798 Art Zone, 2 Jiuxianqiaolu, Chaoyang District
8456-0591
With oil paintings, sculptures and silk-screen printings, Optical Prism presents the diverse, distinctive styles of such contemporary artists as Chen Gang, Deng Chengwen and Li Wenfeng.
10 am-6 pm, until April 15
New Millennium Gallery, 3818 Warehouse, 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District
6432-4122
The exhibition Men in Mental Boxes sees Wang Jiazeng making comparisons between the past and present, urging the viewer to reconcile with old memories.
10 am-6 pm, until April 16
Highland Gallery, 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District
6437-7177
The 10th China International Flowers and Horticulture Expo is a must for those who like to get their hands dirty.
9 am-5 pm, until April 12
Beijing Exhibition Hall, Xizhimenwai, Xicheng District
6835-4457
Flying White is the fourth solo exhibition for artist Wu Yang, who comments on China's fast developing urban landscapes with striking black-and-white abstract images on photographic paper. The artist calls her series Public Space, highlighting the growing importance of public spaces in our everyday lives.
10 am-5 pm, until April 15
FANGART, Room 510, Block 16, Houxiandai-cheng, 16 Baiziwanlu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
8776-5159
(China Daily 04/11/2008 page20)
