Favourites from The National Museum of China

There are over a million pieces at the National Museum of China. Of course, I didn't see them all. But even so, there was plenty of stunning artwork and pieces of history to feast my eyes on.

This is just a minute reflection of what I saw. Can you believe some of these items are hundreds, even thousands of years old?

Sometimes it seems like we've come so far with technology but other times, like upon seeing some of these intricately made pieces? It seems like mankind did pretty okay with the "primitive" tools they had back then.

The other thing I found really fascinating was the global influence in many pieces. Way before Mark Zuckerberg was born, people were trading with each other, sharing ideas and thoughts and ways of life.

You'll see below influences from other Asian countries and even Europe! This was way before Chinese cloisonné pieces became popular over there.

The National Museum of China - Beijing, China

During my visit to Beijing this April, I visited the national museum. To my delight, it is actually free!

I spent all my time just enjoying the architecture and the ancient sculptures and jewelry. I didn't take too many photos of the calligraphy or more contemporary pieces.

Here's the front of the building. It is on the west side of Tiananmen Square.



Here is the view it faces. The building you see on the east side of Tianamen Square is the People's Hall where the big important meetings happen.





The National Museum is very imposing but also quite beautiful, I think. Very Western on the inside while steps away at the Forbidden City (south side of the Square) everything remains in true Chinese style.

Originally this area housed two museums - the Museum of the Chinese Revolution and the National Museum of Chinese History. In 2003 they merged to become the National Museum of China. Major renovations, headed by German architectural firm Gerkan, Marg and Partners, began in 2007 and four years later the museum opened with triple the space and almost 30 new exhibition halls.



Inside the exhibition halls. Unfortunately a number of them were not open. I did peek behind a door and it looks like they were preparing an exhibition. I suspect some of them stand empty though.

There was a definite lack of contemporary Chinese art. It seems as if what the museum considers contemporary art is China post-revolution, but still traditional Chinese art forms: pottery, calligraphy, silk thread "painting", etc.

In the past decade, there has been a lot of great photography, abstract art, installations, etc. by Chinese artists but none were shown here. I'm not sure if it is because those artists would rather show in places like the super cool industrial 798 Art Zone or the government does not find it representative of "Chinese" art or perhaps a bit of both.





Here is the inside of the museum. Saying it's HUGE is an understatement!









In the next post, I'll show you some of my favourite pieces in the museum.

Guest Bedroom Progress Report - Update!

Good morning! Hope you all had a good weekend. Anyone watch the Oscars? Any highlights I should know about? Because I certainly didn't. It was episodes of Bones and The Unit for us since we're solely a Netflix household these days.

In between vegging out in front of the TV, my husband did the backlog of laundry and vacuumed while I kept us fed and did the following:




I hung up the chandelier and the Andy Warhol prints, both of which used to be in our dining nook at the apartment.

Here's a comparison of before, during, and "after" (although this isn't the final after):


Before & During


"After"

Look familiar? Here's what the chandelier and Warhol prints looked like in our old apartment:



I think the room looks a lot better now but there's still a few things I'd like to do before taking a break with this room:

-Add magazines and/or a small vignette to the nightstands (this month)
-Add a headboard (by summer, DIY perhaps?)
-Install window treatment (outer blind and inner curtains (this month)
-Work on the wall/bookcase facing the bed (by summer)

Eventually I would love to paint the walls if not to a color than at least a bright white to cover the horribly chalky contractor's paint (it's so bad you can rub it off with a wet cloth!).

Make a Statement

I love the look of large scale art on the wall. Whether muted or bright, it always makes a statement.

I find that it can really bring a room together and do wonders for spaces both large and small. In a small room, oversized art takes on this "so what?!" attitude and embraces the coziness of the space. In a large room, it grounds the space and combats that lost, empty feeling a grand space is often prone to.

It can also act as a focal point or a backdrop for pops of colors or interesting little tchotchkes displayed within the space.

Here are some perfect examples of how larger pieces can do wonders within a wide array of palettes, styles, room sizes, and layouts.




















all images via decorpad.com

With all these great inspirations in my head, I've been scouring Etsy, Craigslist, and local print shops for the perfect piece(s) to fill our space. It's not as easy as I thought on a budget! I tried to look up local student art shows but came up blank.

Any recommendations for other budget-friendly places I can look?