Each poem and work of art has a story to tell.
Our journey in this course enables us to understand the multilayered stories conveyed through the minds and hearts of Chinese artists. Discovering the depth and inspiration that words and images have together to offer, we experience a holistic “aesthetic world” (jingjie 境界). Words and images are two inextricably connected aspects of the arts in China. The two practices often complement and inspire each other: a painting is a silent poem, and a poem a painting in sound.
Students taking the course, Chinese Poetry and the Other Arts, have curated online exhibitions based on a theme. They researched and analyzed artworks; they selected and interpreted poems to highlight an “aesthetic world” in which a poem or a painting alone could not accomplish.
This online exhibition is a collaborative project between the course (EAL 237) developed by Professor Sujane Wu and Smith College Museum of Art in Spring 2017. We hope this online exhibition provides a glimpse into the longstanding relationship between literary and visual expressions in Chinese tradition. We also hope through these student-curators’ lens, a multifaceted Chinese culture is manifested.
