More on the PCAH Delegation to China

President’s Committee Chairman and head of the delegation, Adair Margo and Minister of Culture Sun exchange views on future cultural relationships between their two nations. Joining Chairman Margo were 35 public and private members of the PCAH including : James Billington, Librarian of Congress; Bruce Cole, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities; Anne-Imelda Radice, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services; Alina Romanowski, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Eileen Mason, Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts; Marc Pachter, Director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery; Henry Moran, PCAH Executive Director; David Fraher, Executive Director of Arts Midwest; Iris Love, archeologist and member of the National Council on the Humanities; Makoto Fujimura, visual artist and member of the National Council on the Arts; PCAH private members Burton McMurtry, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth Dubin; James Farmer; Alice Carrington Foultz; Roxane Gatling Gilmore; John Mason; Ralph McInerny; Barbara Mitnick; Mercedes Paz-Slimp Caren Prothro; and.Margaret Robson.

At the ancient Drum Tower in the center of Xi'an, members of the delegation heard folk music performances by peasant farmers and a local traditional Chinese orchestra performing original and traditional compositions. Here Adair Margo is joined by the musicians, and she led the delegation members in singing American folk song "Home on the Range."

The expansive level of exchange and sharing of artistic perspectives was a highlight of the China mission. At the Shanghai Museum, for example, Curator Chen Xie-jun gave a survey of the museum’s holdings; Professor Wang Jiren presented a brief history of Chinese literary forms followed by Deputy Chairman Eileen Mason, who gave a summary of NEA literary projects. Delving further into literature, Shanghai poets Zhao Lihong and Zhang Ye recited their own poetry and shared the influence of such American poets as Emily Dickinson on their work. Henry Moran, Executive Director, President's Committee, presented poems by Robert Frost and by Dana Gioia, NEA.Chairman.

Throughout the delegation’s visit was a running dialogue in a variety of cultural settings on a range of issues and topics. Here NEH Chairman Bruce Cole and James Billington, Librarian of Congress, engage in high-level conversations with their Chinese counterparts at the Ministry of Culture. Other venues included the National Fine Arts Museum in Beijing, among others, where Director of the Museum Fan Di'an, provided an overview of Chinese contemporary art. He was followed by PCAH delegates Marc Pachter, who explained the evolution of American art seen through portraiture, and Makato Fujimura, National Council on the Arts member, sharing his personal perspective as a visual artist.