This month, the Portland Art Museum has a buffet of events to offer: tours, films, dance performances, lectures, and of course, our exhibitions.  Our special exhibition is China Design Now which was borrowed from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  The exhibition explores China's dreams and hopes over the last two decades and features works of architecture, photography, fashion and graphic design.  Now only that, but we have free Museum Day, Artist Talk with Carson Ellis (illustrator for the Decemberists), and various lectures and films on China.

For more information, check out our calendar http://www.portlandartmuseum.org/calendar/events/browse-all/001/

China Design NoW

Time: October 10, 2009 to January 17, 2010
Location: Portland Art Museum
Street: 1219 S.W. Park Ave.
City/Town: Portland
Phone: (503) 226-2811
Event Type: museum, exhibition
Organized By: Portland Art Museum

OCT 10, 2009 — JAN 17, 2010

China Design Now explores the recent explosion of critically compelling design and architecture projects created in China, contextualizing the impact of rapid economic development on these projects in the country's major cities. This immersive, multi-sensory exhibition captures a dynamic phase in China, as it opens up to global influences and responds to the hopes and dreams of its new urban middle class.

Representing three swiftly expanding cities — Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen — the exhibition features the work of Chinese and international designers focused on architecture, fashion and graphic design, film, photography, product and furniture design, youth culture, and digital media. Visitors journey south to north along China's east coast, exploring graphic design and visual culture in China's manufacturing capital, Shenzhen, fashion and lifestyle in Shanghai, and architecture in Beijing, home of the 2008 Olympic stadium.

China Youth Now

Saturday, October 10

7:00 P – 8:00 P

Experience the latest media, technology, and fashion created to appeal to Chinese youth today in a presentation by John Jay, the global executive creative director of Wieden + Kennedy and founder of their Shanghai office.

Tickets are $5 members, $12 non-members. Does not include special exhibition fees. Tickets available online and on-site.

China Design Now

Creativity in the Era of Globalization:

Sunday, October 11

2:00 P – 3:00 P

Join Beth McKillop, director of collections and keeper of the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, as she discusses the changing economic and cultural contexts that have fueled an explosion of creativity in Chinese graphic design, fashion, and architecture in Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing.

Tickets are $5 members, $12 non-members. Does not include special exhibition fees. Tickets available online and on-site.

China Power

Sunday, October 11

4:30 P – 5:45 P

Northwest Film Center Screening

BRITAIN 2008, DIRECTOR: PIA GETTY

Getty's film takes a look at the vibrant contemporary art scene in Beijing and Shanghai. (70 mins.)

Free for members or with Museum admission. Film only: $8 general, $7 students and seniors.

Midday Art Break

Vue d'un jardin, Rouen (Garden View, Rouen)

Wednesday, October 14

12:30 P – 1:30 P

Take a break from your workday to explore the Museum's recently acquired painting by Gauguin, Vue d'un jardin, Rouen (Garden View, Rouen) with Chief Curator Bruce Guenther.

Free with Museum Admission.

My China Now—Part I

Northwest Film Center Screening

Thursday, October 15

7:00 P – 9:00 P

CHINA 2005-08, DIRECTORS: VARIOUS

The first of two programs of short films showcasing the creative voices of more than 30 Chinese artists and filmmakers who are defining contemporary Chinese culture. The subjects of the films range from the social effects of urbanization and the fascination with China's new wealth to skateboarding, fashion, and pop culture. (120 mins.)

Free for members or with Museum admission. Film only: $8 general, $7 students and seniors.

China Music Now

A Conversation with Ye Xiaogang:

Sunday, October 18

4:00 P – 5:00 P

How do musicians in China make a living? Who is their audience? And how is the business of music changing in China? For this panel discussion Eric Priest, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon specializing in Chinese intellectual property law, joins Ye Xiaogang, widely regarded as one of the leading composers in China today. Ye's piano concerto Starry Sky premiered at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and he is chair of the composition faculty at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

Tickets are $5 members, $12 non-members. Does not include special exhibition fees.

Up the Yangtze

Northwest Film Center Screening

Sunday, October 18

4:30 P – 6:00 P

CHINA/CANADA 2007, DIRECTOR: YUNG CHANG

With a humanist gaze and wry wit, Yung Chang returns to the gorgeous, now-disappearing landscape of his grandfather's youth to trace the surreal experience of a “farewell cruise” that traverses an epic waterway forever changed by a globalized China. (89 mins.)

Free for members or with Museum admission. Film only: $8 general, $7 students and seniors. More information and tickets available at nwfilm.org.

The World

Northwest Film Center Screening

Thursday, October 22

7:00 P – 9:00 P

CHINA 2004, DIRECTOR: ZHANG KE JIA

Zhang Ke casts a compassionate eye on the daily loves, friendships, and desperate dreams of the twenty-somethings from China's remote provinces who come to live and work at Beijing's World Park—a bizarre cross-cultural pollination of Las Vegas and Epcot Center. (139 mins.)

Free for members or with Museum admission. Film only: $8 general, $7 students and seniors. More information and tickets available at nwfilm.org.

China Music Now

Third Angle Performs New Works by Chinese Composers:

Thursday, October 22

7:30 P – 8:30 P

In two exclusive performances, Third Angle Music Ensemble, led by Artistic Director Ron Blessinger of Portland, will perform works by the latest generation of Chinese composers selected by Ye Xiaogang.

Tickets are $20 members, Third Angle subscribers, students, and seniors; $30 non-members.

China Music Now

Third Angle Performs New Works by Chinese Composers:

Friday, October 23

7:30 P – 8:30 P

In two exclusive performances, Third Angle Music Ensemble, led by Artistic Director Ron Blessinger of Portland, will perform works by the latest generation of Chinese composers selected by Ye Xiaogang.

Tickets are $20 members, Third Angle subscribers, students, and seniors; $30 non-members.

China Architecture Now

Thursday, October 29

7:00 P – 8:00 P

Join Yung Ho Chang for an in-depth discussion about profound and rapid changes in economics, mobility, consumerism, and architecture in China. Yung is the head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Architectural Design. In 1993, he established China's first privately-owned architecture firm, Atelier Feichang Jianzhu.

Tickets are $5 members, $12 non-members. Does not include special exhibition fees. Tickets available online and on-site.

My China Now—Part II

Northwest Film Center Screening

Thursday, October 29

7:00 P – 9:00 P

CHINA 2005-08, DIRECTORS: VARIOUS

The second of two programs of short films showcasing the creative voices of Chinese filmmakers. (120 mins.)

Free for members or with Museum admission. Film only: $8 general, $7 students and seniors. More information and tickets available at nwfilm.org.