China’s 5000 year history has produced some of the world’s greatest artistic traditions. But now China is modernizing so fast that many worry these traditions are being abandoned by a younger generation. And China’s ethnic “quilt” of minority peoples and cultures is experiencing the same homogenization and “globalization” process felt in many other parts of the world. As we learn about Chinese and Tibetan arts, we will discuss the value of tradition, the responsibility of individuals and governments to their traditions, and the effects of foreign influence on the traditions of a culture.

Features:

We will begin by spending two weeks in the traditional and multi-ethnic province of Sichuan – sister province of Washington State. Here we will immerse ourselves in workshops, lectures, concerts, readings and seminars about Chinese arts, as well as visit rural Tibetan areas of Sichuan where a unique minority culture is finding new expressions in a younger generation of artists. Finally we will spend six busy days in Beijing, visiting the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and art museums and galleries and other venues featuring both the old and the new face of Chinese arts and culture.

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