Observations and Reflections on a Tea Brick from Fuzhou
Of all the tea bricks at MAA, only one is embossed with the image of a dragon. What are the multiple meanings of this important Chinese symbol in this context, and what is its relationship to the tea brick?
30 May 2023
Dragons, Monk’s Caps, and Butter Tea: The Duomuhu
What can drinking vessels tell us about historical changes and relationships? I explore the trajectory of one such vessel, a 多穆壶 (duomuhu), and what it tells us about the politics of the Chinese Empire.
7 March 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
The Tea Horse Road: An Ancient Trade Route
Michael Freeman, photographer and author of the ‘Tea Horse Road: China’s Ancient Trade Road to Tibet’, explores the pressed tea bricks in MAA’s care and the longest trade route in the ancient world.
7 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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