WLL Chinese Program Hosts Peking Mask Painting Night
On October 26, the Chinese program held the Second Cultural Workshop with the theme of Peking Opera Masks Painting. Song Qi, an FLTA from China shared with students the art of Chinese Peking Opera. The event began with an introduction of the history of Peking Opera and its integration and combination during the past centuries. Ms. Song showed a short video clip of Peking Opera to give further demonstration of the main artistic presentation form that incorporates singing, dancing, dialogue and martial arts, then focusing on the exaggerated facial make-up with symbolic colors and patterns to portray characters’ personalities and social identities. Then came the chance for students to design and paint their own Peking Opera masks with their own hands according to their own understanding of the art. Colorful masks were painted by students with their imagination and creativity running free.
The event was made possible only with the help from Mr. Weijia Huang, who worked hard to decorate the room and helped set up teaching devices before the event, and took fantastic pictures for students during the event. We also need to thank Hongyun Sun, the head of the Chinese Language Program, for providing brushes and masks, as well as funding for refreshment.
Peking Opera is regarded as an expression of the aesthetic ideal of opera in traditional Chinese society and remains a widely recognized element of the country’s cultural heritage. It was inscribed in 2010 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
