"The Story of Trees": Joint Chinese and Western Art Exhibition at Dong Yue Art Museum
Live anywhere long enough, and it’s easy to find oneself a bit lost in the ordinary. You settle into a routine – a rut, more like – and you forget the special nature of the place in which you live. As a long-time Beijing resident, I have often been guilty of the misguided assessment of Beijing as … normal, caught up in the habit of keeping my head down, eyes forward in the course of the deadening familiarity of commutes and the everyday. However, Beijing is, of course, anything but normal. It is a city absolutely overflowing with history and culture, blessed with a unique and exquisite arts heritage.
I was recently reminded of this when I was invited to attend the opening of “The Story of Trees,” a joint exhibition from artists Niamh Cunningham and Zheng Qinyan at the Dong Yue Art Museum down in Dongdaqiao. Excited to get out of the house and discover a new-to-me location in Beijing, and eager to support a friend and invaluable member of Beijing’s artistic community, I jumped at the chance to attend this special event.
The Artists
Niamh Cunningham is an Irish artist who has lived in China since 2010. Since arriving in China, her 15 exhilarating years have included active engagement in numerous local and cross-cultural projects. She has co-curated the annual exhibition “Irish Wave” (2012-2016) every March during the Irish festival in China in both Beijing and Shanghai, presenting contemporary art by Irish and Chinese artists. Her first solo exhibition in China, “An Eastward Calling” (2014), was held on the grounds of the newly renovated Dong Yue Art Museum, and she has held several duo and group exhibitions with Chinese artists. In May 2024, she was invited to the Chengdu-Europe Culture Season, where XLY Moma Museum presented “Memory Palace of Tree Stories – The Paintings” to great acclaim. Her continued education is focused on eco-literacy, which informs her art practice. Since 2020 she has been gathering tree stories from a global public for her award-winning socio-eco art practice The Memory Palace of Tree Stories, and many of the pieces displayed in this current exhibition were painted in response to individuals’ Tree Stories. In April 2024, Cunningham presented at TEDx Beixinqiao. She is a member of Visual Artists Ireland and a founding member of Haumea Ecoversity
Zheng Qinyan, a Chinese artist and academic, is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). She serves as the director of the Children's Art Research Center at CAFA, the chairperson of the 6th Children's Art Committee of the China Artists Association, and the deputy director and secretary-general of the First National Steering Committee for Aesthetic Education in Primary and Secondary Schools under the Ministry of Education. She is also a recipient of the Huamao Meiyu Award. Additionally, she is a member of the Art Education Committee of the Beijing Artists Association, an expert member of the Public Education Committee of the National Art Museum of China, a member of the China Calligraphers Association, and a member of the China Artists Association. She is also a member of the Youth Federation of the Central State Government and an expert judge for domestic and international children's painting competitions.
The Works
The main room of the exhibition is on the right side of the interior courtyard as you enter the location from the street. Inside, Professor Zheng’s works occupy the walls at either end of the solemn, high-ceilinged rectangular space. The works are serene, reserved, and still; they shimmer in quiet stateliness, almost like Zheng herself, who during the exhibition opening event floats about the room, weaving through the crowd and making no noise, yet ever-watching with a sharp, discerning gaze.
The beautiful and wonderfully textured trees and leaves of Zhang’s works emerge from delicately rendered blocks of calligraphy, the text of sutras forming the roots of the trees, or in a couple of cases hovering stoically above ocean waves. The simple compositions and comparatively soft and subtle colors, coupled with the meditative repetitions of written word and water, lend a peaceful air and calming effect on the viewer.
The meditative qualities of Zheng’s paintings are fitting for the space, and the experience is enhanced by the long silk scrolls emblazoned with Buddhist texts inked in gold brush calligraphy and hung from across the length of the ceiling.
In contrast, Niamh Cunningham’s paintings are vibrant and bursting with color, as if to say, “Here! Yes! Feel!” And we do. We are immersed in a variety of compositional perspectives that place us immediately within the scenes amid electric colors, liquid shapes and a dance of shadows and light. Stepping in front of each painting was like stepping into a blast of cold air – exhilarating and refreshing. Cunningham herself is warm and personable, talkative, always kind, gracious and steeped in the forging of connections, whether they be with people or with nature.
Of course, Cunningham has quieter works on display here as well, including some from her earlier “Microbe” and “Sucrose” series. But still, in each piece, there is a jolt of emotion, big or small, exuberant or contemplative. Cunningham’s works are not requesting, not questioning a connection with trees, but rather they take it as a given. We are one with the trees and their stories – and therefore one with each other – as soon as we step in front of each piece.
Several of Cunningham’s pieces are linked to her "Memory Palace of Tree Stories" series, a project in which people from all over the world were invited to share stories about their connection to trees. Described by Cunningham as “a socio-ecological art practice which invites you to tell a story or share information about trees,” the project “is a creative-led social enquiry of how we can … live better with the greater community of life.”
The obvious difference in styles of the two artists was a point of direct reflection during the event: how these different styles – one energetic and boldly colorful and one softer and more still – complement each other to form a cohesive presentation, the buzzing outward expressiveness fitting into other quiet grooves of the other, striving towards a balanced presentation of the complexity of trees themselves.
Across the interior courtyard from the main part of the exhibition is a long, narrow gallery space, which Cunningham considers the “Tree Story Community Space,” in which are displayed suspended monotypes created during a previous weekend’s eco-friendly art workshops for young students. There is also a TV screen on which visitors can view video recordings from Cunningham’s “Tree Story” series.
The exhibition asks us to consider “our connections to the natural world as we look at different perspectives and different tree stories from real people at a time of ecological challenge.”
The Museum
The Dong Yue Art Museum was erected on the ancient grounds of a Yuan dynasty temple to the god of thunder. It sits back from the street, next to the larger complex of the Dongyue Temple and Beijing Folk Museum, which we previously covered as part of our Visit Here series. The unassuming entrance of Dong Yue Art Museum is quietly announced by dark round-handled double doors and light lion statues, with the traditional wall of the enclosure a small dab of brilliant red amid the surrounding gray.
Visiting the Exhibition
“The Story of Trees” runs until Mar 28. There is no price for entry to the exhibition, but it is a good idea to call ahead, as the museum’s front door is often closed due to wind. English speakers can contact Niamh at 186 1153 1047 for entry.
Additionally, there will be two bilingual tours this weekend: one on Sat, Mar 22, from 11.30am to 12.30pm, and one on Sun, Mar 23, from 4pm to 5pm. Please contact Niamh on WeChat (ID: sistaC) for more information.
Dong Yue Art Museum
99 Chaoyangmenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District
朝阳区朝阳门外大街141号
Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-noon, 2pm-4pm
Contact: 18611531047 (Niamh)
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Images: Abigail Weathers, courtesy of the gallery
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