A handwritten manuscript of Lord Byron's poem Love and Gold.
©The National Library of Scotland
Oscar Wilde's Fan, Act I, Second Draft, Typography, 1892.
Unpublished Material©the Estate of Oscar Wilde
Hui ji chunming, 1977-1979, 17.8×33cm
Collection Agency: Yale University Art Museum
The work was donated by the Rosenquet Foundation for The Benefit: Alexander Monroe, Robert Rosenquez, B.A. 1962
Following the launch of the "Shakespeare/Tang Xianzute Exhibition" last year, on October 14 this year, the Muxin Art Museum in Wuzhen welcomed two special exhibitions: "Muxin Telling: Treasures of the British Library" and "Tower in the Tower - Muxin Yale Collection High Imitation and Literary Manuscript Authenticity Exhibition". On the occasion of the opening of the special exhibition, it also coincided with the second anniversary of the establishment of Muxin Art Museum, and guests such as Wang Anyi, Liu Xiaodong, Zhan Hongzhi, Luo Zhenyu, Jiang Wenli, Zhao Wei, Park Shu, Li Jian, Jiang Fangzhou and other guests gathered in Wuzhen.
Precious manuscripts of Byron Wilde are on display
Mr. Mu Xin has written a lot about English literature during his lifetime, and this time the British Library brought the precious manuscripts of Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf and Charles Lamb to the Mu Xin Art Museum, and Mr. Mu Xin was a loyal reader of these four literary heroes. These rare and precious manuscripts are presented in China for the first time in China with the three-year Exchange Programme at the British Library in China: Sharing Knowledge and Culture. Previously, the "Treasures of the British Library Exhibition" also exhibited Byron's manuscripts at the National Library of China, and this time a new exhibit was specially selected for the Muxin Art Museum, a manuscript of Byron's poem "Love and Gold".
In addition to the manuscript of Byron's poem Love and Gold, the exhibits for "The Story of the Wooden Heart: Treasures of the British Library" include a manuscript of Virginia Woolf's The Hours, written between 1923 and 1924, which was later published in 1925 under the title Mrs Dalloway; and Oscar Wilde's theatrical work Lady Windermeres Fan) A typescript of the first act, with numerous traces of handwriting modifications; the handwritten letter of Charles Lamb, one of the authors of Shakespeare's Tales, Shakespeare's Tales played a key role in the translation and promotion of Shakespeare's works in China.
Establish a spatio-temporal dialogue between authors and authors
Alexandra Ault, the curator of the exhibition, said that the exhibition is not only a display of manuscripts, but more importantly provides a window for the audience to understand English literature. "These manuscripts selected by the British Library give a full picture of the writer's creative process. From Byron's manuscript of Love and Gold, we can see how he wrote densely on a piece of paper and crossed out what parts were crossed out before rewriting. ”
Another exhibit, Wilde's "Lady Win's Fan," features wilder pencil notes and modifications to the lines, as well as the stamp of 'Mrs. Marshall Typing Line' on Strand Avenue in London, which illustrates that the creation of a manuscript often requires the participation of several people. ”
The manuscript has both a commercial and an artistic side, and the audience can compare each creator's different creative process. This choice to start from the perspective of "wooden heart narration" is also to establish a dialogue between the author and the author in time and space.
■ Read the wooden heart
Wang Anyi: "Shanghai Fu" that loves Mu Xin the most
Writer Wang Anyi is the matchmaker of Muxin Art Museum located in Wuzhen, and this time at the invitation of director Chen Danqing, Wang Anyi visited Muxin Art Museum for the first time. Wang Anyi once had a relationship with Mu Xin and had a meal together. At that time, Mu Xin's two evaluations of Wang Anyi made her remember vividly: people are more energetic than photos; their faces are very good, they are southerners and northern faces.
Wang Anyi's favorite Mu Xin's work is "Shanghai Fu", she clearly remembers that this article was published in "Shanghai Literature", and Mu Xin's life in the city made her feel empathy, which is also the Shanghai in her eyes. When she first saw the architecture of the Muxin Art Museum, Wang Anyi admitted that it was "a bit of a surprise", in her imagination, the Muxin Art Museum may be an antique building, but she did not expect it to be a postmodern architectural style. But she came to this environment herself and accepted it.
For this special exhibition, Wang Anyi is also looking forward to Byron and Woolf's manuscripts. She herself loves English literature, "which may have something to do with this place in Shanghai, which, as an English Concession, has a preference for Victorian fashion." Looking at the manuscript is a tortuous process for Wang Anyi to approach the author, she herself is not used to typing, insists on handwriting, keeps her own manuscript, she laughs that handwriting can help her think slowly and clearly.
Jiang Wenli: Reading Mu Xin's text is like chatting with an old friend
Actress Jiang Wenli also came to Wuzhen and Muxin Art Museum for the first time, she is through the "Literary Memoirs" to understand the Muxin, admire the Muxin learning through the East and west, "see the literal face, read his text is like chatting with an old friend, feel Mu xin is very humorous and funny." Now and in the future we all need people who have learned from China and the West, and Mr. Mu Xin has made up for this piece. ”
For this special exhibition of the British Library, Jiang Wenli is also very interested, "When I like to read, it is the peak of Western literary translation, including the works of Byron and others in this exhibition, which I read and liked at that time. Jiang Wenli, who has read "Literary Memoirs", has begun to read the literary works mentioned by Mu Xin, "Some of them have read or read half of them before, and I have read many books by Mu Xin himself, so I have begun to read these books again, and Mr. Mu Xin is also my example." ”
Park Shu: Mu Xin's paranoia about beauty shocked me
The long-key singer Park Shu also attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Park Shu is a very early reader of Mu Xin, when Mu Xin has not yet "hot", Park Shu has bought Mu Xin's prose collection to read.
"We need a wooden heart because when we realize we have something missing, we start looking. Frankly speaking, I don't know how to draw, and my understanding of Mr. Mu Xin is still through words. What struck me with "Literary Memoirs" was that I felt that I had missed too much knowledge, that I felt that I had too many things that I did not understand, which made me reflect. Mr. Mu Xin's paranoia about beauty also shocked me. ”
【Concurrent Exhibition】
The "Tower in the Tower - Muxin Yale Collection High Imitation and Literary Manuscript Authenticity Exhibition" was launched at the same time, which originated from the acquisition of 33 small landscape transfer paintings by collector Robert Rosenkoetz in 1995, and then donated to the Yale University Art Museum. This time, the Yale Art Museum authorized the Muxin Art Museum to produce high-fidelity products, which will be exhibited in the same room as the original manuscripts of Muxin Literature.
Intern Zhang Xinxin Reported by Wuzhen
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