26 October and 2 November 2005

The Gallery celebrates the exhibition The Poetic Mandarin: Chinese Calligraphy with talks by Soprano Shu-Cheen Yu and MP Kevin Rudd, as well as themed films, live music and tours during the Gallery's late night Wednesday events program Art After Hours.

6.30PM CELEBRITY TALKS
26 October - Shu-Cheen Yu, Soprano
Before emigrating to Australia in 1987, Shu-Cheen Yu was a principal artist with the Shanxi province Beijing Opera Company and The Chinese National Oriental Song and Dance Company. Shu-Cheen Yu became a full-time member of Opera Australia in December 1996 and with this company has sung principal roles in Rigoletto, The Coronation of Poppea and Werther.

Shu-Cheen Yu will discuss the relationship between Chinese calligraphy and Chinese Opera in association with the exhibition The Poetic Mandarin. She has performed over 30 Chinese traditional operas back home and has some great stories to share.

2 November - Kevin Rudd MP,
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade & International Security
Mr Rudd gained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian Studies and has maintained an abiding passion for Asian art ever since. With his wealth of knowledge of both contemporary and historical China, Kevin Rudd delivers his unique perspective on the hierarchical and refined world of Chinese court society and politics. He outlines insightful parallels between notions of power in China, past and present, which have echoes in his own experience of Australia's power structures and bureaucracies.

7.15pm POETIC MANDARIN FILM PROGRAM
This series of feature films charts the waves of uncertainty caused by shifting government policy in the second part of the 20th century in China and presents personal/political stories of hardship, survival and cultural change.

26 October - To live
Dir: Zhang Yimou. 1994. Mandarin with English subtitles

Zhang Yimou's masterpiece is a moving, personal story of the changing fortunes of an ordinary family and its struggle to survive the twists and turns of Chinese history after 1945. Although Fugui, Jiazhen and their two children do not wilfully act against the new order of the Communist government, this does not prevent tragedy from touching their lives.

2 November - Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress
Dir: Sijie Dai 2002. Mandarin/French with English subtitles

An offbeat love story set during the period of the Maoist "re-education" camps of the 1970s. Luo and Ma, two university students, are sent to work in a remote mining village to purge them of their western-oriented education. They meet a beautiful, local young woman and set about wooing her by introducing her to the forbidden ideas contained in classic western literature.

7.30pm LIVE JAZZ IN THE ARTBAR
26 October - Jazz trios from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music perform a mix of contemporary and traditional jazz in the Gallery's Artbar.

2 November - Mose Nose is a blues/jazz quartet inspired by the music of Mose Allison .The members are James Brinkhoff on piano, Ross Mayne on bass, Chris Gentle on drums and Lindsay Drummond on sax and vocals.

7.30pm GUIDED TOURS OF POETIC MANDARIN - CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY
Explore this beautiful exhibition in the Asian galleries with one of our informative guides.

ART AFTER HOURS - EVERY WEDNESDAY UNTIL 9PM
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery Road, The Domain, Sydney 2000, Australia.
www.artafterhours.com.au or National toll free 1800 679 278

MEDIA INFORMATION
Margaux Simms, Press Office
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Email margauxs@ag.nsw.gov.au
Telephone (02) 9225 1618

Images (left to right): Shu-Cheen Yu, Kevin Rudd