8 SEPTEMBER - Textures, layers & harmony within the Chinese kitchen with Kylie Kwong, chef, author and owner/executive chef at Billy Kwong, Surry Hills.

While not giving away her culinary secrets, Sydney based chef Kylie Kwong will tell how her Chinese heritage infuses her cooking with a mixture of spice and subtlety. Her aesthetic sensibility also reveals itself in her appreciation for beautiful textures, layers and harmony, in food and in life. As she says: "By sharing the experiences of my family, I hope to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture, particularly within Australia, and to express my pride in my Chinese heritage".  Photo Credit: Simon Griffiths

15 SEPTEMBER - Heavenly Silks, Earthly Bureaucracy with Kevin Rudd MP, Federal Member for Griffith and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs & International Security.

With his wealth of knowledge of both contemporary and historical China, Kevin Rudd will give us his unique perspective on the hierarchical and refined world of Chinese court society and politics. His talk will demonstrate how the closely delineated structures of the court and the wearers' status are reflected in the sumptuously embroidered motifs on the imperial silk textiles of the period. He will draw out witty and 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.

22 SEPTEMBER - China Dolls: Every chick's guide to fashion and makeup from the Tang dynasty and beyond.
Linda Jaivin, novelist, journalist, playwright and occasional eroticist.

As that ultimate fashionista Patsy Stone once said: �You can never have too many hats, bags and shoes'- they are the hallmarks of a woman with style. Since ancient times Chinese women have led the world in the definition of feminine beauty. Trade along the Silk Road not only brought fine fabric, ceramics and spices and to the West - but revealed the meticulous (and sometimes barbaric) extremes women of the East would go to achieve the apex of beauty. From foot-binding to face-powder, spunky chick and fashion slave, Linda Jaivin will share her insights into the heady world of Chinese fashion, makeup and ornament from antiquity to the Qing and beyond.

The celebrity talks are just one component of the Gallery's Art After Hours program.

At 5.30pm curators, conservators, educators and other Gallery staff and guests who research and care for the Gallery's collections will share their expertise, thoughts and passions on selected artworks on view.

At 7.15pm, visitors can enjoy a film from the Gallery's free program of cinema curated by Robert Herbert. September's program follows a summer theme to complement the exhibition Plein-air Painting in Europe 1780 - 1850.

At 7.30pm, jazz trios from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music perform in the Gallery's ArtBar. They perform a modern selection providing the perfect sound track to the vista of Woolloomooloo Bay and the ArtBar's food and wine menu.

Also at 7.30pm, visitors can enjoy a guided tour of the exhibition Celestial Silks: Chinese Religious and Court Textiles with a group tour led by a Gallery Guide.

ART AFTER HOURS CELESTIAL SILKS PROGAM DETAILS
All events free (Admission charges apply for the exhibition Celestial Silks: Chinese Religious and Court Textiles)

Wednesday 8 September
5.30pm Lou Klepac, Publisher Beagle Press
6.30pm Kylie Kwong, chef Textures, layers & harmony within the Chinese Kitchen
7.15pm Film Days of Heaven (Dir: Terrence Malick, 1978)
7.30pm Live Jazz Trios in the Caf�
7.30pm Guided Tour of the exhibition: Celestial Silks: Chinese Religious and Court Textiles

Wednesday 15 September
5.30pm Anne Ryan, Assistant Curator of Australian Prints and Drawings
6.30pm Kevin Rudd, MP Heavenly Silk: Earthly Bureaucracy
7.15pm Film Badlands (Dir: Terrence Malick, 1973)
7.30pm Live Jazz Trios in the Cafe
7.30pm Guided Tour of the exhibition: Celestial Silks: Chinese Religious and Court Textiles

Wednesday 22 September
5.30pm Terence Maloon, Curator of Special exhibitions.
6.30pm Linda Jaivin, writer China Dolls - Every Chick's Guide to Fashion & Makeup from the Tang Dynasty & Beyond
7.15pm Film Beneath Clouds (Dir: Ivan Sen 2002)
7.30pm Live Jazz Trios in the Cafe
7.30pm Guided Tour of the exhibition: Celestial Silks: Chinese Religious and Court Textiles

ART AFTER HOURS
Every Wednesday 5-9pm at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery Road, The Domain, Sydney, 2000
www.artafterhours.com.au
(02) 9225 1744 National toll free 1800 679 278

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

Art After Hours - A JPMorgan Contemporary Project