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[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"39215","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","alt":"Finishing Touches"}}]]A version of this article first appeared in the Indianapolis Star on April 13, 2014.
Ní hăo! It’s time to learn to say “hello” in Mandarin—China is coming to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis in the new exhibit Take Me There:® China, starting May 10!
Opening in tandem with China’s Terra Cotta Warriors: The Emperor’s Painted Army, Take Me There: China will be the second in the museum’s series exploring modern life in a single world culture. The series began with Take Me There: Egypt, which ran from 2009 to 2013; the Take Me There gallery is scheduled to change cultures approximately every four years.
An Authentic Experience
Over the past several years, the museum has sent teams of people to China to study customs, culture, and modern society and also to collect artifacts and shoot photos and video. The result is an immersive exhibit that offers an experience of modern China with its time-honored traditions and modern innovations.
To explore changes affecting Chinese society, the museum worked with a single family. An 11-year old boy named Jackie serves as a guide on a journey from his great grandmother’s traditional rural home to his grandparents’ newer suburban home to his parents’ modern urban apartment. “It’s a chance to see how family life and living circumstances have changed as Chinese society has changed over the course of four generations,” said Charity Counts, the museum’s associate vice
president of exhibits.
To examine environmental issues facing China, the museum turned to pandas, the country’s most enduring and endearing symbol. Visitors will find a re-creation of the famous Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, home to China’s panda conservation efforts. Children and families can also explore a tea house, marketplace, calligraphy shop, food market, and much more. For more details, see behind the scenes photos on the Pinterest board.
A Community Effort
Many advisors and partners, both in the U.S. and internationally, consulted on this exhibit including the Indianapolis Hangzhou Sister Cities Committee, The Confucius Institute, the Indiana Association of Chinese Americans, Lilly Chinese Culture Network, The America China Society of Indiana, and The Indianapolis Chinese Community Center, Inc.
In addition to these organizations, more than 10,000 Chinese and Chinese Americans call Indianapolis home, and some will be serving as gallery volunteers, performers, and language and calligraphy teachers during Take Me There: China’s run.
Join us for our Opening Day Celebration on May 10, and be sure to buy your tickets for Terra Cotta Warriors: The Emperor's Painted Army (May 10–Nov. 2).
Take Me There: China is made possible by lead gifts from Lilly Endowment, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, The Lilly Family, Mrs. Yvonne Shaheen, Sarah and John Lechleiter, the U.S. Institute for Museum and Library Services, Jane and Steve Marmon, Susan and Jim Naus, and Polly Hix.
