This school year, Queens College (QC) has launched a new initiative that will help educate the community about the contributions different countries have made in areas like history and art.
China will be the focus for the 2010/2011 school year. Each year after this, a different country will be selected.
The opening events for “Year of China” will be on Tuesday, October 5. There will be a performance by the Shanghi Quartet at 10 a.m.
At 2 p.m., the lecture “China Today” will take place, followed by the illustrated talk “Vestiges of the Silk Road in China” at 8 p.m. The day’s activities will conclude with a performance at 7:30 p.m. that will feature faculty from QC’s Aaron Copland School of Music at artist-on-residence Bright Sheng.
As part of the celebrations, QC is also holding several exhibitions. “Eden: Ceramics By Sin-Ying Ho” opened on September 8 in the Queens College Art Center and will remain on display through October 26. It focuses on the impact of globalization in the 21st century.
Ho is an assistant professor of ceramics at Queens College. The exhibit includes six and seven foot vessels and sculptures. Ho explained that the exhibit is about “the search for paradise, a mythical place of bliss, delight and contentment, a place for reflection, meditation and a safe haven from earthly delights.”
The Queens College Art Center is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays. It is closed on weekends and holidays.
Also on display is “Marlene Tseng Yu: Nature and Cosmos,” which can be seen at QC’s Godwin-Ternbach Museum through November 24. This exhibit includes paintings and murals.
“Marlene is a force of nature herself, truly a phenomenon. We are proud to present these virtuoso creations, which reflect the power and flux of nature and the universe,” said museum director and curator Amy Winter. “It is as if the artist’s empathy with the very substance of nature and the universe were projected back onto the canvas itself. This exhibition celebrates her meteoric and inexhaustible talent.”
An opening reception for “Nature and Cosmos” will be held on Wednesday, October 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. It will include a lecture by Donald Kuspit, an art critic and professor emeritus of SUNY Stony Brook.
The Godwin-Ternbach Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Queens College is located at 65-30 Kissena Boulevard in Flushing. For more information on its “Year of China” activities, visit www.qc.cuny.edu.
