Pacific Asia Museum to Open Newly Renovated Chinese Gallery

On October 18, 2013, Pacific Asia Museum will open the newly renovated Ralph and Angelyn Riffenburgh Gallery featuring Chinese art as part of its continued renovations of the permanent collection galleries.

In 2010, Pacific Asia Museum launched a long-range plan to renovate and reinterpret its permanent collection galleries with a thematic approach to significantly enhance the visitor experience. The museum successfully opened the Introductory Gallery featuring The Art of Pacific Asia in 2011 and the new Gallery of Korean Art in 2012. Through 2015, the museum will continue renovating several other galleries to reflect up-to-date scholarship and better present its permanent collection to visitors while protecting it for future generations through upgrades to climate controls, lighting and display cases.

The Ralph and Angelyn Riffenburgh Gallery has featured the Pacific Asia Museum’s significant collection of Chinese ceramics since 1999. This renovation brings it in line with the new thematic approach in the museum’s permanent galleries, and displays a broader range of the arts of China including paintings, textiles and sculptural works, which will benefit from the state of the art improvements in climate control in the gallery. The five themes in the gallery are Philosophical and Religious Ideas, Art and Commerce, Tradition and Innovation, Status and Adornment and “Reading” Symbols. Within each of these sections, multiple objects in different media give the visitor a deeper understanding of the role art has played in Chinese society for centuries. For example, the Tradition and Innovation section will use a combination of contemporary and historic art to show how artists and artisans have responded to and reinterpreted traditions throughout history.

Notable works in the gallery include an excellently-preserved 15th-century painting of a lohan, a carved nephrite bowl, and a rare late Ming chair. The space also includes a number of interactive stations that add further opportunities to engage with the concepts laid out in the exhibition.

“As China continues to grow in importance on the international stage, it’s vital that Pacific Asia Museum works to increase cultural literacy in our community,” said Curator Bridget Bray. “This updated gallery reflects the rich artistic heritage of China and allows our visitors to gain a deeper understanding of the culture, whether they share in that heritage or have an interest in learning more.”

The renovation and exhibition are generously supported by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Margaret Leong Checca and Michael Checca, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the David Kamansky Fund, Violet Ouyang, Maria Low Way, Albert and Yvonne Chang, June and Simon Li, Kenneth and Louise Tang, and the China Society of Southern California for the project, as well as the Collectors’ Circle which will make the presentation of contemporary Chinese art possible in the gallery. The inclusion of contemporary art will help execute the museum’s mission of advancing intercultural understanding through the arts of Asia and the Pacific Islands in an increasingly relevant way in this global era.

About Pacific Asia Museum

Pacific Asia Museum is among the few institutions in the United States dedicated exclusively to the arts and culture of Asia and the Pacific Islands. The museum’s mission is to further intercultural understanding through the arts of Asia and the Pacific Islands. Since 1971, Pacific Asia Museum has served a broad audience of students, families, adults, and scholars through its exhibitions and programs.

Pacific Asia Museum is located at 46 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $10 general, $7 students/seniors, and free for museum members and children under 12. Admission is free every 4th Friday of the month. For more information visit www.pacificasiamuseum.org or call (626) 449-2742.