An Evening of Sake, Fusion Food and Incredible Art @ CMA on 4/22
If you haven’t had a chance to visit The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art, your perfect opportunity has arrived! Nihonshu Night, on Fri 4/22 from 5 – 8:30PM @ the Cleveland Museum of Art, is a special evening of sake and fusion food tastings, music and a unique exhibition experience. The Lure of Painted Poetry features more than 80 objects from the museum’s preeminent Asian collection, dating from the 14th to the 21st centuries, and highlights Japanese and Korean artists’ efforts to fuse the genres of visual art and poetry as they reinterpreted themes of classical Chinese poetry.
Nihonshu Night offers attendees the freedom to wander the exhibition after hours in a more intimate setting, and to discuss this compelling exhibition with its curator, Dr. Seunghye Sun. The evening features a sake tasting with three different sakes selected by the experts at The Marchetti Company and a fusion food tasting of Japanese/Korean food samples created exclusively for the event by SasaMatsu restaurant in Shaker Square. The evening will also include music from Beat Matrix’s Darrell Stout. Not only does this evening offer an engaging, intimate look at this beautiful art, it is a unique opportunity to immerse oneself in the sights, smells and tastes of a culture. And, tickets for the evening are only $18. This is a rare event that should not be missed!
“It’s a unique way to start the weekend, says Becky Astrop, Advertising and Promotions Associate @ the Cle Museum of Art. “You can take in our new exhibition with your friends and taste different sakes and delicious fusion food from the chefs at Sasa. We’re excited for people to see this beautiful exhibition – the first organized at the museum by our new curator,” she says.
The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art, opened in March and, in a strange coincidence, shortly after the devastating events that unfolded in Japan. “If nothing else, the show demonstrates how art museums can shrink the world and illuminate the dignity and humanity of a people reeling from a string of disasters,” says Steven Litt of the Plain Dealer.
Beyond the connection to the current day, the exhibition beautifully demonstrates the inspiration that Japanese and Korean artists drew from Chinese poetry. According to the exhibition’s curator, Dr. Seunghye Sun, Japanese and Korean artists interpreted and used Chinese poetry as a vehicle to explore distant landscapes. “The artworks in this exhibition explore the theme of liberation from a mundane life through armchair reclusion,” said Dr. Sun, associate curator of Japanese and Korean Art for the Cleveland Museum of Art. “Without completely withdrawing from the dusty world, the artists achieved spiritual freedom and inner utopia in their poetry and painting.” The exhibition contains a variety of visual media, including calligraphy, painting and decorative arts and many works have not been on view in decades. It is open until Sun 8/28.
The Lure of Painted Poetry is the first exhibition conceived and organized by Dr. Sun for the Cleveland Museum of Art. Before her appointment at the museum, Dr. Sun served as curator at the National Museum of Korea (Seoul, 2002–2008; Gongju, 2009), where, as the first curator of Japanese art in Korea’s history, she planned and installed the permanent galleries of Japanese art. In addition, she was the curator and publication author for several exhibitions, including Western-style Paintings in Modern Japan, The Lure of Asia in Japanese Art and A Treasury of Joseon Period Manuscripts and Portraits from the Distinguished Families in Gongju, Korea. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet Dr. Sun at Nihonshu Night, and to welcome her to Cleveland.
Nihonshu Night begins at 5PM on Fri 4/22 @ The Cleveland Museum of Art. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ClevelandArt.org.
[Pictured – top: Takaki Seikaku (Japanese, b. 1923). A Poem of Spring from Manyoshu, late 1900s. Ink on decorative paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Gift of the Artist 2011.21]
[Pictured – bottom: Plums, Bamboo, and Orchid, 1834. Yamamoto Baiitsu (Japanese, 1783–1856). Hanging scroll, ink on silk; 172.4 x 79 cm (image). The Cleveland Museum of Art Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1975.93]
Julie Cajigas is a Cleveland girl who grew up on the East & West Side and now lives near Akron – she’s got the whole town covered. Cajigas holds degrees in Communication & Music from Cleveland State University and is currently pursuing her Masters in Communication at CSU.
One Response to “PREVIEW: Nihonshu Night: An Evening of Sake, Fusion Food & Art”
The Soul of Japan
Sounds like a great time had. Thanks for sharing.