Asia Invades North Texas

by Stephen Becker 6 Jan 2009 4:28 PM

Sitting Tiger, 1777, by Maruyama Okyo, Ink and colors on silk; hanging scroll. Photo courtesy of the Crow Collection of Asian Art. Is it strange to note that Asian culture is having a moment in North Texas? Our area is home to a sizable Asian population, so it should come as no surprise that there […]

Sitting Tiger, 1777, by Maruyama Okyo, Ink and colors on silk; hanging scroll. Photo courtesy of the Crow Collection of Asian Art.

Is it strange to note that Asian culture is having a moment in North Texas? Our area is home to a sizable Asian population, so it should come as no surprise that there are plenty of arts and culture events that are Asian in theme.

But I’ve noticed of late that many of our arts institutions are planning some really interesting events and exhibits steeped in Asian culture (that happens when you spend a significant part of your day monitoring events on the Art&Seek calendar like I do). Maybe it’s because Chinese New Year is a few weeks away? Regardless, I thought I would bring some of them to your attention.

The Crow Collection of Asian Art opens “Untamed Beauty: Tigers in Japanese Art” on Saturday. I suppose it’s only natural that the Crow Collection would have an Asian show, but this one sounds particularly distinctive. The exhibition looks at Japanese painters’ fascination with tigers going back 300 years. What’s interesting is that tigers are not indigenous to Japan, so many of these paintings were done without the artist ever having seen one in the flesh. While you are there, check out Tending the Afterlife: Chinese Tomb Art from the Neolithic Period to the Ming Dynasty. That one’s pretty self-explanatory.
Over at the Kimbell, a pair of events this weekend explore culture from across the Pacific. On Saturday, you can take the kiddos and learn about the traditions behind a Japanese tea ceremony. Then on Sunday, come back to watch Ancient China: A Journey Back in Time, a film that tries to reconstruct ancient cities. A similar film, called Samurai Japan, will be shown on Feb. 15.
If you are booked this weekend, next Sunday (Jan. 18) there will be a Japanese New Year celebration sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth. You can watch a mochitsuki demonstration as rice is pounded to make rice cakes.
Then on Feb. 7, Lily Cai Chinese Dance Company brings a combination of modern and traditional dance to the Eisemann Center in Richardson with its show Dynasties and Beyond. I recently watched some footage of the show when it was performed in New York, and it looks like an explosion of color and motion.