Adelaide Festival Centre to Celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year with Special Double Bill

The Adelaide Festival Centre is set for double happiness this Chinese New Year with Treasures of the Nation and Stories of Life, a stunning double-bill of Chinese music and contemporary visual art on in February as part of the 2016 Adelaide Fringe.

A very special, one-night-only musical event, Treasures of the Nation at the Dunstan Playhouse on February 18 will see the award-winning Chinese Music Orchestra make its Adelaide debut with a magical performance of traditional Chinese music, popular instrument work and soaring melodies to ring in the year of the monkey.

Part of the prestigious China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre and led by renowned conductor Xia Hong, the 43-piece orchestra plays traditional Chinese music using a combination of western and eastern instruments including the sheng, an ancient flute, the liuqin mandolin, and the gaohu and erhu, sometimes referred to as "the Chinese fiddle".

A truly transcendent experience that merges ancient and modern art forms, Treasures of the Nation will showcase China's diverse musical heritage and introduce audiences to a new world of music, stunning visuals and virtuosity.

Also part of the Centre's Chinese New Year celebrations is Stories of Life, an Australian premiere exhibition of contemporary artworks by some of China's most fascinating artists, showing in the Artspace from February 6 to April 3.

Taking in painting, sculpture, video and multimedia works, Stories of Life explores, in vivid detail, what daily life is like in rapidly changing Chinese society from the artists' own personal and spiritual points of view.

Featured in the exhibition are internationally renowned photographic artist Miao Xiaochun, famous for his digitally created works which often present an alien view of his homeland, sculptor Xiang Jing, whose eerily lifelike human forms draw on a classical aesthetic to portray the experiences of contemporary Chinese women, and award-winning multimedia artist Geng Xue.

Other featured artists include Fang Lijun, Feng Yichen, Hang Chunhui, He Weijin, Li Yousong, Liu Qi, Pan Wenxun, Qin Xiuping, Xu Hualing, Zhu Zhengming and contemporary master of traditional ink and wash painting Liu Qinghe.

Stories of Life is curated by professor Zhao Li, co-organised by Beijing Strategic Cultural Development with academic support by Chinese Modern & Contemporary Art Document and Art Nova 100 in association with the China Cultural Centre in Sydney.

Treasures of the Nation is proudly supported by the China Cultural Centre in Sydney and Ausfeng. Tickets are on sale now through BASS.

IF YOU GO:

TREASURES OF THE NATION - Chinese New Year Concert

Thursday February 18, 2016

Dunstan Playhouse

7.30pm

Premium $49, A Res Adult $39, A Res Conc $34, A Res Groups (6+) $34, Green Room $20

Bookings: BASS 131 246 or online at bass.net.au

STORIES OF LIFE - Contemporary Chinese Art Exhibition

February 6 to April 3, 2016

Artspace Gallery

Free

For further information visit adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au.

Don't Miss a Australia - Adelaide News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...