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iris Yau international

@iyi_iris

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Historian (Fellow of RSA) I Educator (Fellow of Higher Education Academy UK) | Curator (MCAwards Best Exhibition Finalist) I Change marker...

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✨Exciting News to share…

My Mission in Manchester aka Exhibition ‘Infamous: Opium, Silk, Tea and the Mission’
has been nominated for the Manchester Culture Awards 2024 ~ “Best Exhibition” 🙌🤞✨

🌟 https://www.theportico.org.uk/infamous-opium-silk-tea-mission 🌟

Many thanks again everyone @porticolibrary (staff & volunteers) and all the wonderful supporters for your support 🤝💖✨

#CriticalPedagogyInspired
#aThirdPlaceToReflectsOnHistory
#19thcentury
#OpiumWars
#GunboatDiplomacy
#Silk(andButton)
#Tea(andFortune)
#MissionariesInChina
#InclusivePractice
#HiddenGems
#Manchester🐝 (WhyNot!)
#Collaborations
#TheMission
#202🐉
#MCRCultureAwards2024

@bolton_library_museum
@kewgardens Economic Botany Collection, Library & Archives
@thejohnrylands
@kings_libraries Foyle Special Collections @mcrmuseum Botany Collection
@mcrartgallery
@manchestercentrallibrary & Archives Manchester Chinese Center
@royalasiaticsociety
@silkmuseummacc
@soasspecialcollections
@socanglochineseunderstanding
@citywestminster Archives
Winyin Society
Xinhua Chinese Association taken in Manchester, England, UK by @iyi_iris

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2 years ago

#Throwback 2019 on a panel
Debunking ‘Decolonisating Education’ @vamuseum #Fridaylate taken in Victoria and Albert Museum by @iyi_iris

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5 years ago

Hard at work with the wonderful team @bruneigallery @soasuni installing some 200 pieces of ‘rare and beautiful’ artefacts on loan from @kewgardens EconomicBotanyCollections LibraryArtsArchives @royalasiaticsociety @soasspecialcollections @citywestminster archives @kings_libraries Foyle Special Collections... and Private Collections for the exhibition
#Opium
#Silk
#TheMissionaries
#China
#Britain
#TheMission
#TheBruneiGallery
#SOAS
#Collaboration
#Exhibition
#History
#19thCentury
#Qing
#Victorian
#TheOpiumWar
#OpiumPoppy taken in SOAS Gallery by @iyi_iris

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5 years ago

A glimpse into the timeless elegance of traditional Chinese garden and architectural design, where nature, artistry, and philosophy meet in harmonious balance… 🪷🎋🌸🛘🌿

The beautiful Yangzhou Scholars’ Garden (揚州儒苑), a remarkable addition to the Chinese Streamside Garden at @rhsbridgewater in Salford/Greater Manchester 💚

https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/bridgewater/garden-highlights/the-chinese-streamside-garden

Every pavilion, window, pathway, and planting reflects the refinement, wisdom, and poetic spirit of the Chinese scholar’s garden ✨

My heartfelt congratulations to all who contributed to the fundraising, design, curation, construction, and planting of this extraordinary space. It is a truly inspiring celebration of Chinese cultural heritage 👏

#YangzhouScholarsGarden #揚州儒苑
#rhsbridgewatergarden
#classicachinesegardens
#artandnature taken in RHS Garden Bridgewater by @iyi_iris

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18 hours ago

A wonderful research visit to the Port & River Library and Archives. Delighted to uncover further materials on London’s 19th-century silk trade and 20th-century tea warehouses.

The permanent displays on opium and the British East India Company (EIC/BEIC) at @wearelondonmuseum offer valuable insights and encourage critical reflection. Yet there is still room for a more honest account of empire, gunboat diplomacy, colonial exploitation, and the immense profits generated through the lucrative opium trade…

Engaging honestly with these interconnected histories can help younger generations better understand how London developed through global networks of trade, power, and exchange. Historical interpretation is strongest when it acknowledges complexity rather than avoids.

#Opium
#Tea
#EastIndiaCompany
#BritishEmpire
#LondonMuseum taken in Museum of London Docklands by @iyi_iris

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21 days ago

Following the murder of Jo Cox MP in 2016, a remarkable initiative was launched, led by Helen Pankhurst CBE 💜 Each year around this time, we come together to send a card to every woman MP in Parliament.

Signed by women and girls from across the UK, these cards serve as a collective expression of gratitude and support.

Each card says thank you: for being a woman in politics, for helping to change the face of Parliament, and for continuing to champion women’s rights and representation.

In a political climate that can often be challenging and hostile, this simple act of solidarity recognises the contribution of women MPs and encourages more women and girls to see themselves as future leaders.

A small gesture, perhaps, but one that carries a powerful message of appreciation, encouragement and hope 💚

#DeedsNotWords
@centenaryaction2028
@jocoxfoundation by @iyi_iris

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a month ago

A reflective visit to the @ImperialWarMuseums and archives, exploring more stories from the Second World War in East and Southeast Asia. From a jacket signed by POWs and accounts of British prisoners of war, to records relating to the sinking of the Lisbon Maru, each object revealed a different facet of wartime suffering, survival, and humanity…

Image 1: Jacket signed by Prisoners of War (POWs)
Image 2: The Jacket and Civilians prisoner artefacts
Image 3: “Comfort women” under the Imperial Japanese Army system
Image 4: British POWs during the Second World War
Image 5: Warships (installation)
Images 6-8: IWM Archives and research on the Lisbon Maru
Image 9: Bookshop
Image 10: Directory
Images 11-12: Views inside and outside the Imperial War Museum

Note: 15 August 1945 marked Imperial Japanese Army announcement of surrender and is commemorated in the United Kingdom as Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day).

#WW2History #POWs #LestWeForget #VJDay #LearnFromHistories taken in Imperial War Museum London by @iyi_iris

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a month ago

Absolutely loved my visit to the @royalacademyarts Library & Archive ✨

A stunning library, an incredibly helpful team, and a fascinating dive into the epic 1935–36 Chinese Exhibition, which really deserves to be much better known. A gentle hint to art historians and educators...😉 https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/exhibition-catalogue/1935-36-international-exhibition-of-chinese-art

Huge thanks to the wonderful staff at the RA Library for allowing me to see some of the collection’s treasures. I’m already looking forward to another visit to explore more on Chitqua and to dig deeper into the remarkable story of the 1935–36 Chinese Exhibition.

#RALibrary #RoyalAcademy #ChineseArt #ESEAArtHistory #HiddenHistories taken in Royal Academy of Arts by @iyi_iris

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2 months ago

Delighted to see the original 1773 watercolour and ink of “The Academicians of the Royal Academy” by John Sanders (1750-1825) after Johan Joseph Zoffany (1733-1810) in the National Portrait Gallery’s Special collections (The Heinz Archive & Library).

View the works @nationalportraitgallery https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp04412/chitqua-tan-che-qua

What makes this 18th Century group portrait especially intriguing is the presence of Chitqua 赤官/琴呱 (Tan-Che-Qua, 1728 - 1796), the pioneering Chinese sculptor who travelled to London in 1769 and exhibited at the Royal Academy. Often regarded as the first Chinese artist to exhibit there, he appears among the leading artistic figures of Georgian Britain, offering a remarkable glimpse of early Chinese-British artistic exchange.

Further more information about Chitqua @royalacademyarts (https://chronicle250.com/1770)

Another mission to the NPG Library was to learn more about George Chinnery (1774–1852), whose portrait of Howqua 浩官(Wu Bingjian, 1769–1843), the influential Chinese merchant and one of the wealthiest men in 19th Century China, became one of the defining images associated with the era of the First Opium War.

The intersections of art, commerce and cross-cultural exchange in these portraits are endlessly fascinating… 💫

#NationalPortraitGallery
#Chitqua
#GeorgeChinnery
#Howqua
#GlobalArtHistory taken in National Portrait Gallery by @iyi_iris

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2 months ago

Once a @csm_changemakers always a Change Maker 🌟

Popped-in @rca_sd MA show to see @zainabgor (x Summer Lee)‘s “Underlying Voice” presentation ~ a meaningful and practical digital platform (an easy to use feedback/action log) for foster child, carers and social workers to stay connected 👍 taken in RCA Dyson Building by @iyi_iris

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2 months ago

Finally got round to watch the Chinese indie film everyone is talking about ~

DEAR YOU《給阿嬤的情書》 by Director LAN Hongchun 藍鴻春

(https://www.imdb.com/title/tt41791573/)

and wow, what an incredibly moving film 🥹 one of those rare films that lingers long after the credits roll.

The storytelling, the emotion, the love woven through every scene 💖 and yes, I’ve already downloaded the soundtrack. 🎶✨

Hoping this beautiful film finds the wider international audience it deserves and receives the recognition it merits on the global stage.

Already visualising… @theoscarsworld @bafta @festivaldecannes …

#DearYou #給阿嬤的情書 #ESEA #IndependentFilm #AwardWorthy

@thegardencinema @trinitycineasia taken in The Garden Cinema by @iyi_iris

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2 months ago

Madame Tussaud & Sons Collections revisited! Delighted to re-examine one of my favourite archival discoveries @citywestminster

COMMISSIONER LIN (ref. Ashbridge 760 Acc 1853) ~ promotional material from Madame Tussaud’s Chinese exhibition in the 19thcentury. This unique artefact has become a companion on my curatorial journey, travelling with exhibitions and talks across the UK. It sits at the heart of my ongoing effort to retell one of the most overlooked chapters in British–Chinese history: the Opium Wars, while also championing lesser-known organisations and stories…🤝

Image 6-7: ‘Opium, Silk and the Missionaries in China’ x @soas_gallery and a Special display at Westminster City Archives
Image 8-9: ‘Infamous: Opium, Silk, Tea and The Mission’ x @porticolibrary (Manchester Culture Awards Best Exhibition Finalist)
Image 10-12: Special lectures for @wcclibrariesandarchives

“MADAME TUSSAUD’s EXHIBITION - This very amusing collection of the portraits in wax, or composition, of so many of the remarkable personages, both male and female, of the past, as well as the present time, has just been rendered more attractive by the addition of two figures, the one representing the notorious Commissioner Lin, and the other his favourite wife. The figures are as large as life, and were modelled from life by an artist of the name of Lamb-Qua, of the city of Canton, where his reputation is exceedingly high. These effigies of the Chinese functionary and his consort are clothed in the actual dresses formerly worn by the originals, and are decorated with some very costly ornaments of gold of Chinese manufacture, and with watches of English manufacture, which were once in the possession of the originals. The robes, which are of silk of the richest texture, are embroidered in a very superb manner, and made with great regard to good taste…”

Looking closely at it again, I am reminded of how much an object can reveal about its time. A silent witness, it speaks to the language, assumptions and attitudes of Victorian Britain, particularly among its capitalist classes. It continues to offer fresh insights with every encounter!

#TheMission
#BritainChinaHistory
#19thCentury taken in Westminster City Archives by @iyi_iris

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3 months ago