Exquisite Empire
Groundbreaking exhibit links China and the Bluegrass

Thanks to a thesis once written by a Chinese official, the Kentucky Horse Park's International Museum of the Horse in Lexington is playing host this summer to its first blockbuster exhibit.

Spanning some 3,000 years, Imperial China: The Art of the Horse in Chinese History, which opened May 1 and runs through August 31, is gleaning kudos for the museum with well-deserved comparisons to its larger, wealthier big-city counterparts.

"The exhibit compliments what the Horse Park already does," John Nicholson, its executive director, says. "It's a new way to fulfill our mission, which is to tell the great story of the bond between mankind and the horse and their partnership through civilization."

This particular chapter of that story is told by an impressive array of 358 artifacts, including a number of treasures never before seen outside China. And the Bluegrass is its only stop before the venue returns to the mysterious Orient.

"There's a mystique about China that most other areas of the world don't have," says Bill Cooke, director of the International Museum of the Horse. He should know, for Cooke was on a trip to Shaanxi Province two years ago when he met Zhang Tinghao, Director General of the Administrative Bureau of Museums and Archaeological Data. In the course of conversation, the Kentuckian mentioned that the Horse Park might like to do a small exhibit on the role of the horse in Chinese history. Brightening, Zhang said he'd written his thesis on that very topic. From that point, says Cooke, doors opened and the exhibit became a much larger reality.

Long known as the cultural cradle of Imperial China, Shaanxi Province was the home of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, builder of the 1,500-mile Great Wall. Though praised by Chairman Mao as the country's unifier, the brilliant emperor ruled ruthlessly, burying alive Confucian scholars who disagreed with him and forcing thousands, even millions, to labor on the Wall, many of whom died in the process.
For 36 years, 70,000 conscripts slaved to build a 15-story tomb for Qin Shi Huang in the Yellow River Valley. Three acres of life-size pottery, or terracotta, servants, warriors armed with real weapons and manned chariots drawn by horses were created to watch over the tyrant in the afterlife. Since 210 B.C., he, his treasures, his 7,000-man clay army and their 600 horses all have lain quietly, until well diggers happened upon the massive underground vault in the late 1970's, and this archeological jewel began to surface.

Ongoing tomb excavations are funded by sending some of these 2,200-year-old troops to be exhibited around the world, such as at the Horse Park, which paid $350,000 to lease the $100 million-plus collection from the Chinese government. Insurance cost another $34,000. The mind-boggling logistics for transporting the priceless artifacts halfway around the world were handled by a German shipping company.

A gorgeous work of art in itself, the Imperial China exhibit space was designed by the museum's art director, Gina Gibson, who gets lauds from Bill Cooke. "You can have great artifacts," he says, "but if they're not presented well, it can blow your whole effort. This was Gina's first major exhibit... and I think it's much more than most people expected."

Representing eight imperial dynasties, from the Zhou (1100-256 B.C.) to the Qing (1644- 1911), Imperial China fills three expansive galleries arranged in chronological order. Carry-along "acoustiguides," or audiophones, that describe certain artifacts and the culture of their historic eras, assure a full cultural experience throughout. Each room features lifesize chariots reconstructed in China solely for this event.

An iron sword, its gold hilt inlaid with turquoise, crowns the first gallery, which contains all Zhou Dynasty pieces. Other exhibited Zhou artifacts include rare bronze horse face masks, bronze and/or gold chariot decorations, harness ornaments, food and wine vessels and a pair of cute earthenware horses and riders believed to be the oldest pottery cavalrymen ever found in China.

Thirteen terracotta army figures fill gallery two, including an imposing "general," looming six feet tall, a beautifully-sculpted archer poised for warfare and a chariot drawn by four horses. Remarkably, each man is individualized, denoting ethnicity and personal expression. Each horse has distinctive characteristics as well.

Leaving these fascinating soldiers at permanent attention, visitors first pass an intricately- carved Han Dynasty stone tomb door, then round a corner to the third and final gallery.

Here, you must take a moment to gasp, and relish the wondrous room before you. Sparkling cases blaze with bronze, jade and earthenware horses, sturdy hand-painted ceramic guards, exquisite tri-colored glazed pottery and golden horse hooves.

A polished wooden chariot with original 2,000-year-old bronze parts gleams under a spreading, vibrant red and yellow parasol. A girl rests on the back of a smiling camel who looms nearly large as life. And a leather saddle, once painted red to protect it from destruction by the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution, stands opulent with cloisonne and silver inlaid stirrups. The museum has purchased the Qing saddle, says Cooke, "to have a quality piece from our first big blockbuster."

A real tour de force for Kentucky, Imperial China has spawned a myriad of events, statewide and in the Bluegrass, from lectures on Chinese art, history and culture to exhibits of Chinese paintings and objects d'art to classes in cooking, herbalism, joinery and calligraphy to tai chi demonstrations and a ballet.

Last Fall while in China, Lexington Mayor Pam Miller accepted a gift horse from the Chinese government -- a lifesize bronze "Galloping Horse," to be installed on June 8 at the corner of Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Gov. Paul Patton has declared 2000 as the Year of China in Kentucky. And in mid-June, the state and the city of Lexington join forces to host 250 Chinese and a number of Kentucky business leaders for a Sino-American Economic Cooperation Conference.

Averaging 750,000 annual visitors to its 1,000-plus acres, the Horse Park underwent a major facelift just in time for the Sino spectacular, which made not only the American Bus Association's "Top 100 Events in North America" for 2000, but also the Chicago Tribune's "World Events Not to Miss in 2000." The museum itself grew from 3,400 square feet of exhibit space to nearly 10,000 and the park spiffed up its grounds and visitor facilities.

Director of marketing and public relations Nore Ghibaudy predicts an additional half to three-quarters of a million visitors this summer, and feels the show's probable economic effect will be immense.

"Summer motorcoach bookings have doubled," he says. "Restaurants, hotels, gas stations and other tourist attractions will all be impacted. Lexington is known as the horse capital of the world, but I think this exhibit will announce the Bluegrass as a destination of a different magnitude."

The Horse Park will be stepping up to a new level as well. "Things will never be the same for the Kentucky Horse Park or this community or this region," Nicholson says. "It elevates us to international status regarding our ability to host these types of blockbuster events."

Cooke agrees. "This exhibit definitely raises the bar for the museum," he says. "We can never go back to what we were before. It's a little bit scary. China's going to be a very hard act to follow. There are a lot of interesting possibilities out there, from the British Isles to Persia. It would certainly be a coup to get the first major exhibit out of Iran."

Know anyone who's written a thesis on the history of the horse in Persia?

Katherine Tandy Brown (kathybrown@lanereport.com) is a staff writer for The Lane Report.

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