Lunar New Year exhibit highlights the Year of the Dragon at Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Minneapolis Institute of Art is kicking of at an exhibit to celebrate the Lunar New Year on Feb. 10.
Dan Dennehy | Minneapolis Institute of Art
This Saturday marks the first day of the Lunar New Year. According to Chinese culture, that means we’re about to enter the Year of the Dragon.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art is opening an exhibit to explore the history of the dragon in Chinese culture on Saturday. It is called Year of the Dragon: Mystical Creatures of the Sky.
The exhibit’s curator, Yang Liu joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the symbolism and history of the exhibit.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: Well friends, this Saturday marks the first day of the Lunar New Year. According to Chinese culture, that means we're about to enter the year of the dragon. The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Mia, is opening an exhibit to explore the history of the dragon in Chinese culture on February 10. It's called year of the dragon, mystical creatures of the sky.
The exhibit's curator, Yang Liu, is here to talk about it. Yang, thanks for joining us.
YANG LIU: Thank you, Cathy, for having me.
CATHY WURZER: It's a real pleasure. Thank you so much. I should know this, but I don't. What does the dragon signify in Chinese culture?
YANG LIU: Well dragon is very different from that in the Western culture. Since its first appearance in, let's see, neolithic period in China, 7 to 8,000 years ago, this creature has suffused the Chinese culture with the transcendent and the majestic power. If you look at Chinese art history, they have inspired artworks in every media almost from jade to bronze, ceramics to paintings, almost every medium.
Over thousands of years of history, they have served as a talismanic, totemic, and spiritual imperial and cultural symbols. And even popular today in China.
CATHY WURZER: Oh. So this is an auspicious then year of the dragon, in a sense, because it seems like the positive qualities are what? Power, strength, wisdom, good luck.
YANG LIU: Well, the-- as you can see that from the history, that the dragon really-- it's connotation and form evolved from time to time from ancient to modern. So this show really wanted to explore the dragons, the imagery and its connotations throughout Chinese art history, from the ancient to contemporary world.
CATHY WURZER: What do you think is so interesting to people about the dragon?
YANG LIU: The symbolic meaning of dragon is really, there's so many meanings. So I kind of come up with an idea to have eight sections to explore the rich connotation or symbolic meaning of the dragon. So that include-- a visitor will see in the exhibition these eight sections.
One is that the dragon served as a talismanic and totemic, not totem, totemic creatures. So in the bronze age, that is the-- starting from perhaps the first Millennium BC to the end of that. That dragon almost ubiquitously that appeared in jades, in bronze decoration. They served as a kind of talismanic and totemic, that kind of role.
And then, the second section that the dragon really served as a ruler of weather and the water. They believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as storms, seas, rivers, waves. And so this association with water and weather really links the dragon to agriculture by extension, prosperity, and abundance.
Then the third section is really a dragon as a symbol of heavenly power. So there's a kind of a group of four animals, each serve as a cardinal guardians of four directions, east, west, and the south, and the north. So a dragon symbolizes as the guardian of the east. And it's also related to the constellations on the east. And each of these creatures, that also include the tiger, white tiger in the west, the vermilion bird in the south, and the black tortoise in the north.
So each of these creatures is really associated with the direction, the color, and the seasons. And so that also reflected in art as well. So another section is about dragons serving as the primary creature of the Chinese zodiac figure. People, visitors, will be interested to find that there are symbols of zodiac figures. So in Chinese culture, that there are 12 animals serve as a zodiac. And each Chinese believe that the character and the destiny will relate to the animal associated with the year of their birth.
So dragon is really the primary creature of this group of 12 zodiac figures. Then the other group is dragon as deities and guardians, the religious art. You will see that dragon often served as a steed of immortals and heavenly deities that connect to the heaven and the earth in one of the major religions in China, Taoism. It's also see in the Buddhist art as well.
Then the other is the dragon as auspicious creature in popular culture.
CATHY WURZER: There's a lot here.
YANG LIU: And very importantly-- very importantly dragon as a symbols of imperial power. You will see that in the particularly late imperial China, that dragon appeared everywhere in the architectural decoration and even the national flag in the Qing dynasty.
CATHY WURZER: Say, before you go, there's a dance performance in the space to kick off the opening on Saturday. Can you briefly tell us about that.
YANG LIU: That's right. Yes. So we have created a-- there would be popular program in conjunction with the opening of this show on Saturday morning at 11:00 at the lobby, just outside of the exhibition, Cargill gallery. So the-- we have invited a dance group from the local dance school. So to perform will include a dragon dance plus another six traditional Chinese dances.
CATHY WURZER: Great. Oh my goodness. Yang Liu you are a fountain of knowledge. And it's really a great pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much.
YANG LIU: My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.
CATHY WURZER: That was Yang Liu, creator of the new Minneapolis Institute of Art, Mia, exhibit called year of the dragon, mystical creatures of the sky. It's free to the public, runs from February 10th through May the 5th.
The exhibit's curator, Yang Liu, is here to talk about it. Yang, thanks for joining us.
YANG LIU: Thank you, Cathy, for having me.
CATHY WURZER: It's a real pleasure. Thank you so much. I should know this, but I don't. What does the dragon signify in Chinese culture?
YANG LIU: Well dragon is very different from that in the Western culture. Since its first appearance in, let's see, neolithic period in China, 7 to 8,000 years ago, this creature has suffused the Chinese culture with the transcendent and the majestic power. If you look at Chinese art history, they have inspired artworks in every media almost from jade to bronze, ceramics to paintings, almost every medium.
Over thousands of years of history, they have served as a talismanic, totemic, and spiritual imperial and cultural symbols. And even popular today in China.
CATHY WURZER: Oh. So this is an auspicious then year of the dragon, in a sense, because it seems like the positive qualities are what? Power, strength, wisdom, good luck.
YANG LIU: Well, the-- as you can see that from the history, that the dragon really-- it's connotation and form evolved from time to time from ancient to modern. So this show really wanted to explore the dragons, the imagery and its connotations throughout Chinese art history, from the ancient to contemporary world.
CATHY WURZER: What do you think is so interesting to people about the dragon?
YANG LIU: The symbolic meaning of dragon is really, there's so many meanings. So I kind of come up with an idea to have eight sections to explore the rich connotation or symbolic meaning of the dragon. So that include-- a visitor will see in the exhibition these eight sections.
One is that the dragon served as a talismanic and totemic, not totem, totemic creatures. So in the bronze age, that is the-- starting from perhaps the first Millennium BC to the end of that. That dragon almost ubiquitously that appeared in jades, in bronze decoration. They served as a kind of talismanic and totemic, that kind of role.
And then, the second section that the dragon really served as a ruler of weather and the water. They believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as storms, seas, rivers, waves. And so this association with water and weather really links the dragon to agriculture by extension, prosperity, and abundance.
Then the third section is really a dragon as a symbol of heavenly power. So there's a kind of a group of four animals, each serve as a cardinal guardians of four directions, east, west, and the south, and the north. So a dragon symbolizes as the guardian of the east. And it's also related to the constellations on the east. And each of these creatures, that also include the tiger, white tiger in the west, the vermilion bird in the south, and the black tortoise in the north.
So each of these creatures is really associated with the direction, the color, and the seasons. And so that also reflected in art as well. So another section is about dragons serving as the primary creature of the Chinese zodiac figure. People, visitors, will be interested to find that there are symbols of zodiac figures. So in Chinese culture, that there are 12 animals serve as a zodiac. And each Chinese believe that the character and the destiny will relate to the animal associated with the year of their birth.
So dragon is really the primary creature of this group of 12 zodiac figures. Then the other group is dragon as deities and guardians, the religious art. You will see that dragon often served as a steed of immortals and heavenly deities that connect to the heaven and the earth in one of the major religions in China, Taoism. It's also see in the Buddhist art as well.
Then the other is the dragon as auspicious creature in popular culture.
CATHY WURZER: There's a lot here.
YANG LIU: And very importantly-- very importantly dragon as a symbols of imperial power. You will see that in the particularly late imperial China, that dragon appeared everywhere in the architectural decoration and even the national flag in the Qing dynasty.
CATHY WURZER: Say, before you go, there's a dance performance in the space to kick off the opening on Saturday. Can you briefly tell us about that.
YANG LIU: That's right. Yes. So we have created a-- there would be popular program in conjunction with the opening of this show on Saturday morning at 11:00 at the lobby, just outside of the exhibition, Cargill gallery. So the-- we have invited a dance group from the local dance school. So to perform will include a dragon dance plus another six traditional Chinese dances.
CATHY WURZER: Great. Oh my goodness. Yang Liu you are a fountain of knowledge. And it's really a great pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much.
YANG LIU: My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.
CATHY WURZER: That was Yang Liu, creator of the new Minneapolis Institute of Art, Mia, exhibit called year of the dragon, mystical creatures of the sky. It's free to the public, runs from February 10th through May the 5th.
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