Water and Starlight: Finding the Zodiac Beaker
A dark bronze beaker in one of MAA's galleries has remained hidden in plain sight. Recently, however, Mark Elliott revisited this object, revealing new connections and questions in the process.
14 November 2023
‘I am writing this waiting for the pageant to begin’
A message on the back of a postcard issued for an exhibition organised by the London Missionary Society leads to an examination of the phenomenon of ‘human zoos’ typical of exhibitions at the time.
18 July 2023
Double Identities: A Guanyin Statue in a Carriage Clock Case
When an object is misidentified, is it a ‘mistake’ or something more? Using a Guanyin statue as a case study, I suggest that objects can inhabit two identities when embodying two simultaneous social meanings.
13 June 2023
Preserving and Revitalising 昆曲 (Kunqu Opera) on the World Stage
Kunqu Opera, one of the oldest forms of Chinese opera, was at one point threatened with extinction. Explore stories of its revival through several collections-based projects at MAA.
21 February 2023
Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year? – Celebrating in Harmony
Chinese New Year' or 'Lunar New Year' are two intertwined terms. Although indicative of positive cultural change, their overlapping nature has sparked controversies within museum spaces.
14 February 2023
‘Looks more like a dog’ – Rabbits or Not Rabbits at MAA
To mark Chinese New Year this year, and the Year of the Rabbit, we did the obvious thing and looked for rabbits in the collections at MAA. But we didn’t find what we thought we would.
31 January 2023
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