Last Empress in Qipaos from Manchu to China Chic with Sally Yu Leung 2015.09.30

Non-CAS Event

Wednesday, September 30, 2015, 12:00 p.m.
Denver Art Museum

Author and curator, Sally Yu Leung will explore the origins and modern-day interpretation of the qipao (Mandarin gown/cheongsam) through the Last Empress Wanrong.

In spite of being an opium addict and the scandal that surrounded her marriage to Emperor Puyi, Empress Wanrong was known for both her modernity and her unerring sense of style in a qipao. She had a star quality about her that few people at the time naturally possessed. Since her death at the age of thirty-nine, Empress Wanrong's style can still wow a generation of women today in the twenty-first century.

Sally Yu Leung is an independent lecturer, author and curator of Chinese decorative arts. From 1983 - 2000, she was a board member of the Chinese American International School. Since 2001, she has also assumed the role of Chinese culture and calligraphy instructor for Pixar Animation Studios. She is the consultant and chief designer of the Interior Cultural Enhancement Project for the International School of Beijing at Shunyi, China. In 2005, she was the recipient of the Woman Warrior Award in the Arts. From 1999 - 2009, she served as a commissioner for the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. In June 2012, she was listed in the Chinese Ministry of Culture's Hall of Fame of those who contributed to the protection and preservation of Chinese cultural heritage.

Free for Asian Art Association Members
$7 for DAM members
$5 for teachers, students, and docents
$10 for public

For more information, please visit http://denverartmuseum.org/calendar/last-empress-qipao-manchu-china-chic, or contact blittle@denverartmuseum.org, 20-913-0040.