FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, February 2009
CI@CI HOSTS FIRST NORTHEAST REGIONAL CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES CONFERENCE
On February 20, 2009 the Confucius Institute at China Institute, the New York City based cultural and educational organization, hosted the first ever Northeast Regional Conference of Confucius Institutes, bringing together seven of thirteen Confucius Institutes from across the region, including New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Massachusetts. With the generous financial support of the Chinese Consulate of New York, the Confucius Institutes gathered for a full day’s discussion, focusing on ways in which each of them individually, and all of them collectively, can broaden and deepen their collective mission of fostering greater cross-cultural understanding between the U.S. and China.
“We are deeply honored to act as host to such a distinguished group of education experts,” said Elisa L. Liang, Executive Vice President of China Institute. “Our hope is that this will be only the first of many such opportunities for collaboration among our organizations, as we strive to provide students, teachers, and the general public of all ages with meaningful opportunities to better understand and appreciate Chinese language, art, and culture.”
Funded and supported by the Chinese Language Council International (“Hanban”), the Confucius Institutes have quickly become a global presence, with almost [300] institutes currently spanning the globe, covering all of the continents.
Following the conference, Hsin Mei Agnes Hsu, PhD., Director of Education and Dean of the Confucius Institute at China Institute, provided attendees with a guided tour of China Institute’s current exhibition, Noble Tombs at Mawangdui: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom, Third Century BCE to First Century CE. . Organized by Willow Hai Chang, China Institute Gallery Director, and curated by Chen Jianming, Director of the Hunan Provincial Museum, the exhibition is made possible by a generous gift from the Henry Luce Foundation. One of the world’s foremost experts on the Mawangdui discovery, Dr. Hsu explained the history and significance of the over sixty rare artifacts on display, which were excavated during 1972-74 from Mawangdui, a suburb of the modern city of Changsha, in Hunan Province, Southeastern China. Considered one of the major archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, the excavation provided important windows into art, culture, history, science, geography, beliefs and cultural practices of the early era of the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE), and ranks among the most important of China’s — and the world’s — cultural heritage sites. The exhibition, together with accompanying online educational resources (www.chinainstitute.org/Mawangdui), is on display from February 12 – June 7, 2009 at China Institute.
ABOUT CHINA INSTITUTE: China Institute (www.chinainstitute.org), founded in 1926, is the oldest bicultural organization in the United States focused on advancing a deeper understanding of China through programs in education, culture, business and art in the belief that cross-cultural understanding strengthens our global community.
For further information, please contact:
Shezhan Liao, China Institute
Phone: 212-744-8181 x 118
E-mail: sliao@chinainstitute.org