From July 17th, the exhibition "China in Shadow Puppetry", co-organized by the Guangdong Provincial Museum and the Chengdu Museum, will be displayed in the special exhibition hall on the third floor of the Guangdong Provincial Museum. The exhibition will run until December 1.
The exhibition brings together more than 300 pieces/sets of shadow puppets and related precious exhibits from 20 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) across the country, and is the first exhibition in South China to comprehensively display shadow puppets from all over China.
Prompt information
"We made this exhibition to show the audience the entire development process of shadow puppetry, showing its past and present life." Chen Daina, curator of the Guangdong Provincial Museum, said that she hopes that the audience can see the different theatrical presentations from ancient shadow puppetry to modern shadow puppetry, "We are looking forward to stimulating the audience's attention to shadow puppetry, so as to think more about how to inherit and develop it." ”
Multi-faceted presentation of the development process of shadow puppetry
"One mouthful of all the things of the ages, waving millions of soldiers with both hands" is talking about the shadow puppet show that is widely spread throughout the country.
Shadow puppetry, also known as "shadow play" or "lantern shadow play", is an ancient traditional Chinese folk art. It is also known as the "earliest form of animation" in which a shadow figure made of different materials such as animal skin and cardboard is illuminated with a light source, projected onto a shadow window, and performed along with music and singing.
The exhibition is divided into four chapters: Tracing the Shadows, Shadow Theatre, Behind the Shadow Window, and Light and Shadow, carefully selecting unique shadow puppet shapes, and recreating the wonderful moments familiar to the audience with iconic scenes from classic plays such as "Journey to the West", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "The Legend of the White Snake". At the same time, combined with shadow puppet making tools, traditional musical instruments, scripts and other physical exhibits, the audience is led to "decrypt" the backstage of the shadow puppet show.
This exhibition of shadow puppetry breaks through a single region, bringing together shadow puppets of various shapes such as characters, flowers, and backgrounds from 20 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) across the country.
Before the launch, Chen Daina introduced the characteristics of shadow puppetry to reporters one by one. The exhibition outlines the history of Chinese shadow puppetry through murals, ancient books, paper-cuttings, etc.; The combination of characters, props and other shadow puppets from Shaanxi, Hebei, Sichuan, Guangdong, Hubei and other regions together constitute a magnificent scene of "a hundred places and thousands of plays". For example, each shadow puppet in Shaanxi has a high forehead, commonly known as "rock skull", which makes the characters full of spirit; Hebei shadow puppetry has superb carving technology, as well as a unique performance method "pinching the voice"; The figures of Chengdu shadow puppets have 14 joints, which are nearly twice as many as ordinary shadow puppets, so the movements of the characters appear more delicate and flexible......
Referring to the characteristics of Guangdong shadow puppetry, Chen Daina said that there is a significant difference between Guangdong shadow puppetry and northern shadow puppetry, Guangdong shadow puppetry is represented by Chaozhou shadow puppetry, there are two types of paper puppets and shadow puppetry, and Lufeng shadow puppet is the remains of Chaozhou shadow puppetry. "The Guangdong shadow puppet is tall, similar to the proportion of real people, and the whole shadow puppet figure is mainly painted, the shape is close to life, and there is less carving."
"At the end of the 70s of the 20th century, Lu Feng's shadow puppet pioneered the national 'frontal shadow body' (shadow man), the front shadow body has clear facial features, the proportions of the limbs are similar to those of real people, the eyes can be rotated, and the mouth can be opened and closed, which is lifelike. ”
China is one of the world's centers of shadow puppetry
Shadow puppetry is rooted in the deep soil of traditional Chinese culture, rapping historical figures through the ages; Create a characteristic light and shadow space, which is unique in the world's performing arts.
Chen Daina said that Asia is the birthplace of the world's shadow puppetry. China, India and Indonesia are its three major centers, and Chinese shadow puppetry spread mainly in the Yuan and Qing dynasties, by land and sea. According to legend, during the Yuan Dynasty, shadow puppetry was an important entertainment activity for the Mongolia army, which spread to Persia, Arabia, Turkey and other places along the northwest land route along the western expedition of the army; The southeast sea route starts from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou and spreads along the "Maritime Silk Road" to Southeast Asia, Egypt and other places.
This exhibition specially selects Thailand's shadow puppet comparison display to show the characteristics of Asian shadow puppetry. Thailand shadow puppets have unique shapes, rich and bright colors. The puppet can be manipulated with a wooden stick, and a string is attached to the figure's hands, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and sometimes legs and chin. The artist can manipulate it freely when he raises the stick and pulls the rope.
In addition to Thailand shadow puppetry, Turkey shadow puppets can also be seen in the exhibition, which draw on the production methods of Chinese shadow puppets, and add image and content elements with Turkey's own characteristics, such as dialogue, soundtrack, and movement.
It is understood that in the Qing Dynasty, explorers and missionaries from the West were amazed by the charm of Chinese shadow puppet performances after seeing all kinds of shadow puppet performances in China, so they collected a large number of shadow puppets, singing books and musical instruments, brought them back to the West, and displayed them in museums as precious oriental artworks, and even performed them publicly. Today, Chinese shadow puppets are found in places such as the British Museum United Kingdom United States the Metropolitan Museum, and even some niche museums have rich collections.
This exhibition uses audio, animation, video, loop projection and other immersive experience means, including traditional shadow puppet theater excerpts on demand, as well as shadow puppet animation produced by modern scientific and technological innovation, and also sets up a new immersive experience space to present the transformation process of shadow puppet art from tradition to modernity. Interestingly, there is also an immersive experience space in the exhibition, where the audience can pick up shadow puppet props and try their hand at becoming a shadow puppet artist.
The exhibition coincides with the summer vacation, which is the peak period for parent-child visitors to visit the museum. Chen Daina introduced that the exhibition specially launched a children's version of the audio guide, which guided the children to observe the details of the shadow puppet shape and imagine the storyline in a relaxed and lively tone in the way of questions, so as to enhance the exhibition experience. In addition, there are also shadow puppet making experiences, museum nights and other activities to enrich the exhibition experience.
Southern Net, Guangdong Study Reporter Zhou Cun