Wedded Bliss - The Marriage of Art and Ceremony

Circle Saturday, April 26 on your calendars! The world renowned Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts celebrates the opening of its extraordinary exhibition "Wedded Bliss, The Marriage of Art and Ceremony."

This exciting exhibition includes live presentations from internationally acclaimed artists and designers and a showcase of original wedding gowns and accessories, paintings, sculpture, and multimedia from the United States and cultures around the world including China, Japan and Korea, some dating back three centuries.

Attendees will be able to participate in a hands-on wedding cake decorating demonstration with professional tools and guidance.

Speakers on opening day, April 26 include internationally acclaimed wedding cake designer Cile Bellefleur Burbidge and globe-trotting photographers Tiziana and Gianni Baldizzone authors of photographic book "Wedding Ceremonies: Ethnic Symbols, Costume and Rituals."

Photographs Courtesy Peabody Essex Museum from the exhibition "Wedded Bliss - The Marriage of Art and Ceremony" opening April 26, 2008.

AsianConnections Editor Suzanne Kai: I have had the pleasure of visiting many of the world's greatest museums in Europe, U.S. and Asia. When I visited the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts several years ago, I was very impressed with the extraordinary quality and depth of its exhibitions.

Beginning April 26, as part of its latest exhibition "Wedded Bliss, The Marriage of Art and Ceremony" the museum will have on view this magnificent Chinese Wedding Tunic and Vest click here to page two to view the beautiful Chinese wedding headdress, Korean woman's bridal gown, and Japanese wedding engagement ceremonial gift wrapping textiles.

Circle Saturday, April 26, 2008 on your calendars for the Peabody Essex Museum's latest special exhibition "Wedded Bliss, The Marriage of Art and Ceremony." In addition to the museum's events and exhibitions, the Peabody Essex Museum has outstanding companion websites. Check out the links at the end of this page.

No exhibition has ever before taken this connective and comparative approach, with 130 paintings, sculptures, photographs, decorative objects and multimedia from the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific, highlighting the complex beliefs and emotions surrounding the matrimonial experience.

View work by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Claes Oldenburg and Jacob Lawrence alongside historic and couture gowns, ceremonial items and rare jewelry.

From the 18th century to the present, these works reveal the diversity of creative response to weddings, as well as changing attitudes and customs over time.

Attend live presentations by internationally acclaimed artists and designers, and a screening of Mira Nair's Golden Globe-nominated film "Monsoon Wedding." Participate in a hands-on wedding cake decorating session with professional tools and guidance.

Speakers on opening day, April 26 include internationally acclaimed wedding cake designer Cile Bellefleur Burbidge and globe-trotting photographers Tiziana and Gianni Baldizzone authors of photographic book "Wedding Ceremonies: Ethnic Symbols, Costume and Rituals."

Gallery Presentation with wedding cake designer Cile Bellefleur Burbidge
11:30 am | Wedded Bliss exhibition
Meet internationally renowned wedding cake designer Cile Bellefleur Burbidge for a short presentation in the galleries. Mrs. Burbidge has been creating wedding cakes for over 40 years, and has elevated cake design to a highly specialized art form. Her cakes have been featured in window displays at Tiffany & Co. in New York and Boston. The author of two books and numerous articles on the fine art of cake decorating, she has won numerous awards and been honored by culinary associations and institutions. Her Architectural Fantasy Cake is in the Wedded Bliss exhibition.

Film | Monsoon Wedding
Noon | Morse Auditorium
2001, 114 minutes, directed by Mira Nair
Mira Nair's Golden Globe-nominated Monsoon Wedding depicts various romantic entanglements in the days leading up to a traditional Punjabi arranged wedding. Nair weaves together five intersecting love stories, crossing geographical, social and moral boundaries. Acclaimed internationally, Monsoon Wedding was a winner at the 2002 British Independent Film Awards and the 2001 Venice Film Festival.

Artist Demonstration | Brian White
2 - 5 pm | Atrium
Artist and sculptor Brian White sets up a studio in the museum's Atrium to share his creative spirit and artistic process with museum visitors. Inspired by Maine's seacoast, its inhabitants and their stories, White creates works of art with found objects such as shells, glass, fabric and other materials that offer new meaning as sculpture. His works take the form of shoes, dresses and other everyday items, yet embody timeless tales and emotions infused with a love of history and the natural world. White's Vintage White Dress and Veil is featured in the Wedded Bliss exhibition.

Cake Designing Demonstration
2 - 5 pm | Atrium
A professional cake designer will decorate a wedding cake in the museum's Atrium. Try your hand at cake decorating using professional tools and expert guidance.

Gallery Presentation with wedding cake designer Cile Burbidge
2 pm | Wedded Bliss exhibition

Illustrated Presentation | Wedding Ceremonies: Ethnic Symbols, Costume and Rituals
With photographers Tiziana and Gianni Baldizzone
3 pm | Morse Auditorium
Acclaimed photographers Tiziana and Gianni Baldizzone (www.baldizzone.com) have traveled the globe in their quest to photograph people, cultures and traditions in remote regions. Published in 2001, their book Wedding Ceremonies: Ethnic Symbols, Costume and Rituals is a stunning photographic survey of marriage ceremonies from around the world. They will share some of these images and discuss some of their more recent projects, followed by a question-and-answer session moderated by Peabody Essex Museum Curator of Textiles and Costumes, Paula Richter.

Supported in part by the Henry Luce Foundation, the Coby Foundation and New Trade Winds/ECHO. Media Partners are Magic 106.7, WFXT-TV Fox 25, The Boston Globe and grace ormonde Wedding Style New England.

About the Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody Essex Museum presents art and culture from New England and around the world. The Museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 24 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States.

OPENING DAY: April 26, 2008 "Wedded Bliss, The Marriage of Art and Ceremony" This exhibition runs through Sept., 14, 2008

HOURS Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day
East India Square
161 Essex Street
Salem, MA 01970-3783
Phone: 978-745-9500, 866-745-1876
For the Hearing Impaired: 978-740-3649
Program Reservations: ext. 3011

ADMISSION Adults $15; seniors $13; students $11. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $4. Members, Youth 16 and under, and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang.

INFO Call 866-745-1876 or visit our Web site at www.pem.org.

Currently at the Peabody Essex Museum there are many other exhibitions and performances including the following Asian-inspired special exhibitions and permanent collections. Click on the links below to view the websites:

Saturday March 29, 2008 - The Tamagawa University Dance and Taiko Group brings its thunderous brand of taiko drumming to the Peabody Essex Museum with nearly 30 drummers and dancers.
1 - 1:15 pm | Atrium
Taiko performance
3 - 3:45 pm | Atrium
Dance performance
4 - 4:30 pm | Morse Auditorium
Taiko performance
Free with museum admission. Made possible by the Lowell Institute.

Thru Dec 7, 2008 "Gateway Bombay"

Thru Jan 25, 2009 "Stage Idols, Japanese Kabuki Theater"

Thru May 17, 2009 "Perfect Imbalance, Exploring Chinese Aesthetics"

Thru June 8, 2008 "Origami Now!"
Create your own Origami - Peabody Essex Museum

Thru Feb 1, 2009 "Body Politics, Maori Tattoo Today"

The Yu Kil-Chun Gallery of Korean Art and Culture at the Peabody Essex Museum features "Auspicious Wishes and Natural Beauty in Korean Art." The Peabody Essex Museum Korean collection, more than a century old, was the first of its kind in the United States and has grown to become one of the most important in the country.

Yin Yu Tang a late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Chinese merchant's house, is the only installation of its kind in North America. At Yin Yu Tang, on the grounds of the Peabody Essex Museum, you will be able to enter the Huang family ancestral home to gain a rare perspective on Chinese art, architecture and culture. Yin Yu Tang was home to the Huang family for more than two hundred years until 1982 when the last descendants moved from the village.

Of Gods and Mortals - A new installation of works at the Traditional Indian Art Gallery from the Peabody Essex Museum's collections of Indian art principally representing the 1800's to the present.