The exhibition World of Flowers: The Botanical Art of Zeng Xiaolian opened on September 29th at Contemporary Gallery Kunming, and will be on view until November 18th.
Zeng Xiaolian (曾孝濂, b. 1939) worked for decades at the Kunming Institute of Botany, producing botanical illustrations of Yunnan's unique flora. His work has been featured in many important botanical publications, and his postage stamp designs have been some of the most popular in Chinese history.
In this exhibition, local flower artist Huahua (花花) has transformed the museum into a living garden, guiding visitors through the four seasons alongside Zeng Xiaolian's paintings of various plant species, many of them endemic to Yunnan Province.
Chengdu artist Lei Jingyi (雷婧一) has transformed Zeng's painting of camelia flowers into a giant paper installation. The space also features sounds and scents to create a fully immersive experience.
The exhibition was curated by famous documentary director Li Chengcai (李成才), known for his award-winning Wall Street and Money series. He first met Zeng Xiaolian while researching his latest documentary series The Journey of Chinese Plants. He commissioned Zeng to create a 2.5 meter painting featuring many of China's most important plant species. The resulting painting is a centrepiece of this exhibition.
CGK curator Jeff Crosby is giving away five pairs of tickets to the exhibition for GoKunming readers who can correctly answer the following question:
What is the official flower of Kunming?
Please send your answer, along with your name and phone number, before Friday, October 4th via the GoKunming contact form. We will randomly select the winners and contact them via the contact form, so please keep an eye on your email. Good luck! If you don't win a ticket: they are also available here
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The ticket giveaway has closed and the winners have been notified.
And the answer was?
The Camellia japonica
Thanks.
Sounds rather Japanese to me ;-)
Googled it and in Chinese aparently it is 山茶花 which translates as mountain tea flower.
Right, Common camellia is simply 茶花. Own a pair of 5 ft camellia trees in the mountains. They bloom pink for a few months near wintertime.
I went to the exhibition this afternoon, and it was amazing. It was the first time I've been to the Contemporary Gallery Kunming, and the gallery itself is quite impressive - I was expecting perhaps just a small building, but it is actually very spacious. The exhibition design, with the 'living garden' idea, really draws you in to the exhibition space, while the centrepiece artwork "The journey of Chinese plants" is a wonderful riot of colours. If you like art, flowers, botanical illustration, or even just something new, I highly recommend going!
Hey folks... does anyone know the pricing for tickets? Btw, I think that that might be an important piece of information to include in review articles like this!
@coastalfire
You can find the ticket price in the calendar event, if you click on the first link in the article: www.gokunming.com/[...]
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