Das alte China. Menschen und Götter im Reich der Mitte. 5000 v. Chr. bis 220 n …

The vast exhibition showed about 200 archaeological findings – most of them burial objects only recently brought to the light of day and hardly seen in the West. The relationship between gods and humans was at the center. Cosmological, religious and ritual ideas were illustrated but one also gained an insight into daily life in ancient China. On show were works of clay, ceramics, jade, bronze, and silk from more than five millennia, from the Neolithic to the end of the Han era (third century B.C.). For visitors to this not simple exhibition, a rich program of lectures, many guided tours and explanatory audio-guides were provided. Furthermore, the Museum Reitberg was exhibiting ‘Mandate of Heaven’ at the same time, with paintings from the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The touring exhibition with five venues, initiated by the Kulturstiftung Ruhr was organized by Roger Goepper, a specialist in the art of East Asia, in close cooperation with the State Office for Cultural Heritage of the People’s Republic. Helmut Brinker, an art historian and sinologist, was responsible for the Zurich presentation: He described the exhibits as simply sensational. The exhibition was very important for both China and Switzerland: State President Jiang Zemin and his counterpart Jean-Pascal Delamuraz were dual sponsors. Zurich had always had a close relationship with the People’s Republic. The exhibition Kunstschätze aus China (Art Treasures from China) created record-breaking visitor numbers for the Kunsthaus in 1980-81, and since 1982 Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, has been Zurich’s twin city. The exhibition was very widely discussed, and its reception was controversial. Gerhard Mack complained: ‘After all, it remains just an alien, beautiful appearance’ (Cash). Angelika Affentranger-Kirchrath, however, praised the show as undemonstrative and educational; she said that it did not exhaust itself in its tasteful presentation (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Seven years after the Tiananmen massacre and with an eye to the high culture of the Shu, Ursula Rathgeb was critical: ‘And so the powers in Peking are beginning to adorn themselves with showpieces from the distant past of their own people and other peoples’ (Tages-Anzeiger). For Regina Krahl the exhibition was ‘significant and beautiful’ and ‘the best exhibition to come from China so far’ (The Art Newspaper). For the exhibition, Hirmer Verlag Munich published a large volume of more than 500 pages, 200 illustrations and twelve essays by Chinese and European experts.