We recently joined the Archivist’s Pick exhibition series hosted by the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. This installation features six sets of materials drawn from newly processed Chinese and Chinese American archival collections, united by a shared thread of artistic expression. From dance to music, and from writing to photography, these works form a kind of treasure trove where art and archives intersect, illuminating the richness and diversity of the archival and special collections held at Starr. While we look forward to welcoming our readers back in Kent Hall in the summer of 2027, we invite you in the meantime to enjoy a selection of highlights on view at the RBML.

On view at Butler Library, 6th Floor, Monday through Friday, 10am-4pm

Special thanks to archivist colleagues at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yekaterina Davidenko and Yingwen Huang, for their invitation and installation support.

 

Left vitrine:

{Top left}

Invitation Postcard, Mainly Eggs, 1990

Best known as a respected physicist, Kia Chi Tsien maintained a lifelong interest in photography. Featured here is a postcard from his solo exhibition Mainly Eggs, which toured from the Soho Photo Gallery in New York to the United Nations. The exhibition captures a moment where science and art meet.

物理学家钱家骐以其学术成就广为人知，同时一生热衷摄影。此处展出的是其个展《Mainly Eggs》的明信片，该展曾从纽约SoHo摄影画廊巡展至联合国，生动呈现了科学与艺术的交汇。

Patricia Koo Tsien and Kia Chi Tsien papers, Box 5 Folder 4

 

{Top right}

China Institute choral group performs for Bowery Savings Bank, February 8, 1984 

In addition to hosting a wide range of programs throughout its centennial history (1926–2026), China Institute in America ran a choral group in the 1980s that performed at venues across the local community in New York City. 

在其百年历程（1926–2026）中，华美协进社组织、协办了各类⽂化艺术活动。20世纪80年代，华美还组建了合唱团，在纽约市内巡演。

China Institute in America Records, Box 99 Folder 32

 

{bottom}

 Yunnan Art Museum Collection Album, 1993

In the 1990s, the Center for US-China Arts Exchange launched the Yunnan Nationalities Cultures Project, bringing together American and Yunnan specialists to develop strategies to preserve the region’s rich cultural diversity. This album, gifted to the Center’s director Chou WenChung, by painter and curator Zhao Yaoxin of the Yunnan Provincial Popular Art Centre, documents the diverse art and craft collections then held at the Yunnan Art Museum. 

美中艺术交流中⼼在90年代发起了云南少数⺠族⽂化项⽬，组织了美国与云南的专家互访，共同探讨保护当地丰富⽂化多样性的路径。本图录由云南省群众艺术馆馆⻓、画家赵耀⾟赠予中⼼主任周⽂中，记录了当时云南美术馆所藏的少数⺠族⼯艺品。

Center for US-China Arts Exchange Records, Box 82 Folder 10

 

Right vitrine:

{Top left}

Ballet master Francia Russell training students at the Central Ballet in Beijing, 1986-1987

The Center for US-China Arts Exchange organized ballet exchanges between leading institutions in China and prominent US companies, including the NYCB and Houston Ballet. Francia Russell, then artistic director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet and a protégé of George Balanchine, spent extended periods in Beijing coaching students in the Balanchine repertoire. 

美中⽂化交流中⼼曾促成中国舞蹈院校与美国顶尖芭蕾舞团（含纽约城市与休斯顿芭蕾舞团）之间的交流项⽬。太平洋⻄北芭蕾舞团艺术总监、乔治·巴兰钦的⻔⽣弗兰⻄亚·拉塞尔曾驻留北京，指导学⽣排练巴兰钦⻛格的新古典作品。

Center for US-China Arts Exchange Records, Box 8 Folder 5

 

{Bottom left}

Photograph of Butterfly painting by Chin-Tang Lo, with inscription by Yu Youren, late 20th century 

Chin-Tang Lo, the first to earn a Ph.D. in Chinese literature from National Taiwan University in 1960, was a prolific scholar of poetry and drama. He was also an amateur painter, having created an album of butterfly paintings, each inscribed by fellow scholars—this one by the renowned Yu Youren. 

罗锦堂于1960年取得国⽴台湾⼤学中国⽂学博⼠学位，为台湾第⼀⼈。他在中国诗歌与戏曲研究⽅⾯著述丰厚，亦从事绘画创作，曾作《彩绘中国百蝶图》，并邀请学界友⼈题字。本幅题字出⾃著名学者于右任。 

Chin-Tang Lo papers, Box 3 Folder 14

 

{Right}

Drama Script, The Poet and the King, by Wu Dizhou, 20th century 

Journalist and cultural activist Wu Dizhou wrote the play The Poet and the King – a sharp satire of totalitarianism and the suppression of free expression. The play was staged at the Southwest Drama Festival in Guilin in 1944 as victory in the resistance against Japan approached. 

新闻⼯作者、⽂化活动家吴荻⾈于20世纪40年代创作话剧《诗⼈与国王》。该剧以⾟辣讽刺直指极权统治与⾔论压制，并在抗⽇战争胜利前夕于桂林举办的⻄南剧展上⾸次公演。

Wu Dizhou papers, Box 2 Folder 16