Art: a Saturday well spent at the Vancouver Art Gallery

lizpenafuerte
Jan 11, 2015
3 min read

This afternoon a few of my girlfriends and I headed down to the Vancouver Art Gallery. I have been meaning to go the last few weeks because I've been hearing and seeing people post about "The Forbidden City' exhibit. Now first and foremost I am definitely not an art aficionado, so let's be clear. Last December I had the opportunity to hit up Art Basel in Miami and I was just blown away with all the art that I have made it my mission to hit up the VAG more often than not.

I'm glad we decided to go this Saturday as this is the final week for the exhibit and within our group chat we almost didn't go b/c we were somewhat getting lazy. When we arrived there was such a long line up (Vancouver is such a last minute kind of city). Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos on the first floor, which was no bueno.

Just a bit of an introduction for you (if you're like me, I know very little to nothing about the Forbidden City".

" What is the Forbidden City? It was the vast palace complex in the centre of Beijing, and is now the largest museum in the world's most populous country, China. Its massive vermilion walls, laid out early in the fifteenth century, enclose 176 acres of pavilions and gardens that are the city's most visited tourist destination. From the time it was completed in the 1420 to the fall of the imperial system in 1911, the Forbidden City served as the office and private residence of the two families who ruled China through the Ming and Qing dynasties. Since the fall of the empire, it has housed the Palace Museum, known in Chinese as the Gugong (Old Palace). Through the five centuries when the Forbidden City dominated the skyline of imperial Beijing, there was no nation wealthier and no emperor more powerful. The palace was symbolic of this wealth and power, and still is today, for its southern gate, Tiananmen, appears on the national emblem of the People's Republic of China. The design of the Forbidden City can be traced back to the reign of the Mongol conqueror of China, Khubilai Khan, who in 1265 ordered the construction of a capital city in Beijing, which was not previously one of China's capitals. His Muslim architect rejected earlier Chinese palace architecture in favour of a hybrid of Mongol and Chinese elements. The palace was damaged during the war that drove the Mongols from China in 1368, and was then dismantled. When the third Ming emperor, Yongle, had teh Forbidden City rebuilt on its present site in the 1410s, he retained the hybrid style of the original. During the Ming dynasty (13-1644), the Forbidden City was the greatest palace in the world. In the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), however, other empires emerged. In fact, the eighteenth century was the Age of Empires, and kings and tsars elsewhere began to rival in wealth and power their fellow monarchs who occupied the Forbidden City. The Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century left the Qing dynasty unable to compete with other empires. Even the fledgling Japanese empire became strong enough to pressure he Qing dynasty into capitulating to its demands.'

A few standouts:

The Bell Set as a culture that aspires to Heaven, Earth and the people in harmony naturally looks to music as a metaphor.

Portrait of Emperor Qianlong in a Ceremonial Robe: the painting itself stood out as there was so much fine detail.

Set of Eight Auspicious Emblems: there was a wheel, banner, lotus flower, vase, two fish, a conch shell, endless know and for the life of me I can't remember the last one. These we're probably a foot or two in length and just GORGEOUS to see. Apparently they royal fam would pray to Buddha in temples that would have seven royal treasures and eight auspicious emblems.

After a quick step out to Chipots to get some grub we headed back into the rest of the exhibit. Ai Wei Wei had this stool installation that has 886 antique stools and replicas from the Qing dynasty that was absolutely mind blowing. I got in trouble b/c I touched one of the stools, OOPSIE.

There were a few more pieces that were just great to look at. Like I said earlier, I am definitely not an aficionado however there are a lot of things I don't know anything about but be damn sure I will immerse myself in it until I learn about it.

If you have time within this week to check out the exhibit, please do so.

Photos from today: