UNL presents Chinese Culture Week Sept. 28-Oct. 3

Six days of activities, all free and open to the public, celebrate Chinese Culture Week at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Events kick off Sept. 28 and conclude Oct. 3.

The week observes the second anniversary of the establishment of UNL's Confucius Institute, the 30th anniversary of the normalizing of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The Rotunda Gallery in the Nebraska Union hosts an exhibition of Chinese calligraphy and art from Sept. 28-Oct. 3. Zenghan Tong, a doctoral student in UNL's Department of Chemistry, is master in the art of Chinese calligraphy. She has studied since childhood with internationally renowned calligraphy teacher Dalin Zhu. Paintings by Dongmei Wu, an award-winning Chinese artist who is a member of the faculty of the College of Forestry Northwest A&F in Yangling, China, also will be exhibited. The pair will be demonstrating their work from noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 29, and 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 3.

Kimball Hall is the location for a free recital beginning at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 by Chinese soprano Luan Li, an artist in residence at UNL's Confucius Institute. Accompanied on the piano by Michael Cotton, Li will present a broad selection of works in her extensive repertoire of Chinese and Western vocal music. The first half of the recital will consist of Chinese folk songs and other traditional Chinese melodies. The second half will consist of western operatic and classical fare. Li is former chair of the Department of Music and associate professor at the College of Art of China at Three Gorges University in Hubei, China.

A Chinese language movie will be screened from 3-5:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in the main theater of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. The film has not yet been announced. The film will be screened in Chinese with English subtitles.

Two events close Chinese Culture Week on Oct. 3. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Georgian Room of the Nebraska Union, the Confucius Institute is offering a Chinese Language Speech competition. Speakers must be non-native speakers of Chinese, who will deliver their talks in Chinese. The grand prize is a trip to China in May 2010; other cash prizes will be awarded. Participants need to preregister by Sept. 23 for the competition and can do so by going to http://confuciusinstitute.unl.edu.

The closing event, which begins at 7 p.m. Oct. 3 in the Nebraska Union Ballroom, is an extravaganza of Chinese folk music. Traditional instruments such as gu qin (a 7-stringed instrument that is plucked or strummed), er hu (a 2-string instrument that is bowed), several types of Chinese flute, and gu zheng, (a 25-string instrument) will be featured.

Events are sponsored by the Confucius Institute at UNL, and underwritten by Hanban, the Office of Chinese Language Council International, part of the Chinese Ministry of Education.

For more information, go to confuciusinstitute.unl.edu or telephone (402) 472-5370.