A viral series on the Chinese version of TikTok about a jade teapot that turns into a woman and escapes from the British Museum is to be adapted into an animated film. The plot of Escape from the British Museum, a series made by two social media influencers, echoes Chinese state media calls for the British government to make amends for “historical sins” and return Chinese cultural relics. The series tells the story of the teapot as it tries to return to China with the help of a Chinese journalist…
Tag: British Museum
British Museum offers to pay translator after plagiarism row
The British Museum has offered to pay a writer for her work after she alleged her poetry translations had been plagiarised in a landmark exhibition. Earlier this week, the museum removed a segment of its China’s Hidden Century exhibition after Yilin Wang said she did not receive any credit or reimbursement for her translations of the work of Qiu Jin, a Chinese revolutionary. On Thursday, the museum said it had apologised for the “unintentional human error” and “offered financial payment for the period the translations appeared in the exhibition as…
Translator alleges work on Chinese radical ‘plagiarised’ in British Museum show
The British Museum is removing a segment of its landmark exhibition on China after a writer alleged that her translations of a Chinese revolutionary’s poetry had been “plagiarised”. Yilin Wang, an award-winning translator, poet and editor who lives in Vancouver, said she did not receive any credit or reimbursement for translations of Qiu Jin’s work that she claims are hers. They appeared in the exhibition and catalogue of the museum’s China’s Hidden Century exhibition. “Hey [British Museum], it’s come to my attention that your exhibit ‘China’s hidden century’ uses my…
China’s Hidden Century review – a revelation from first to last
She wears jade earrings and a midnight blue jacket, embroidered in gold to its mandarin collar. She sits very still, staring straight back at you from her watchful closeup. You could pick her out of a crowd, this shrewd woman with the incisive look and stringently combed hair – except that she no longer exists. For this is not now. Nor is this a photograph, as it might at first seem, skimming a face from life in some Chinese city. In fact this is an ancestral portrait from Guanghzu province,…
The Guardian view on American-Chinese relations: looking beyond governments | Editorial
Richer and more complex stories lie behind dominant narratives, as the British Museum’s fascinating new exhibition, China’s Hidden Century, reminds us. It challenges the conventional wisdom that the country’s “long 19th century” was solely a time of decay and decline. It documents domestic turmoil and aggression and plunder by foreign powers – notably Britain – but also resilience and innovation. By looking beyond the Qing court, it includes individuals, ideas and possibilities that complicate our understanding of China’s identity and trajectory. Alongside splendid imperial robes, visitors see a cook’s uniform.…
China’s Hidden Century review – how opium and Christianity demolished a civilisation
In 1860 British and French troops pillaged and destroyed the Summer Palace of China’s Qing emperors, carrying off pieces of art and chunks of architecture – and a tiny, hairy dog who belonged to the emperor. Looty, as the dog was renamed with impeccable bad taste, was given to Queen Victoria and was the first “Pekinese” in Britain. A portrait of Looty is one of the many arresting images and facts in what must be the strangest blockbuster the British Museum has ever staged. In 2007, this museum put on…
Chinese glories, last rites revised and hypermodern tapestry – the week in art
Exhibition of the week China’s Hidden CenturyBlockbuster survey of China in the 19th century, when the imperial era was coming to an end. British Museum, London, 18 May to 8 October Also showing Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris Introspective portraits by the Welsh Vermeer. Pallant House, Chichester, 13 May to 8 October Patrick CaulfieldEarly work by one of the most ironic and haunting British modern painters and printmakers. Josh Lilley, London, 18 May to 20 June Melati Suryodarmo This acclaimed performance artist brings her vision to…