Jul 25, 2017
Creating Across Cultures is a collection of stories about
visionary women in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan who defied
cultural and social expectations to become leaders in the arts.
Working in the literary, visual and performing arts, these women
journeyed outside their cultures, engaging with the international
artistic community. Their personal histories open windows onto the
larger, historical trajectory of China over three generations,
while their artwork delves into social realities and challenges of
the day. The stories, based on personal interviews and professional
archives, were written by a team of arts specialists, journalists,
and academics who have made these accounts available in English for
the first time. In bringing these 16 women’s stories together in
one book, editor Michelle Vosper illuminates the value of the
exchange of arts and ideas across borders and cultures, while
offering inspiring role models for women aspiring to careers in the
arts. Ms. Vosper joined the National Committee on June 26, 2017, to
discuss her book, the women whose stories it details, and her own
experience fostering cross-cultural artistic exchanges, in a
conversation moderated by National Committee Vice President Jan
Berris.
For more information about Creating Across Cultures and profiles of
the artists:
https://www.ncuscr.org/sites/default/....
Michelle Vosper served as the first director of the Asian Cultural
Council’s (ACC) program in Hong Kong for twenty-five years
(1986-2012), supporting and organizing exchanges of artists from
the United States and Asia. Ms. Vosper’s career began in 1978 when
she became the first assistant director of the Center for US-China
Arts Exchange established at Columbia University. During the early
period that followed normalization of diplomatic relations, she
worked with prominent artists on programs such as Isaac Stern’s
film From Mao to Mozart and Arthur Miller’s Chinese-language
production of Death of a Salesman in Beijing. She also travelled
frequently in China as interpreter and coordinator for cultural
figures including Susan Sontag, Howard Gardner, Alwin Nikolais and
Jacques d’Amboise. In 1980 Michelle co-translated Cao Yu’s play
Peking Man for its New York premiere.