7 December 2022, Liverpool - Liverpool China Partnership (LCP) brings Chinese Kunqu Opera (or Kun Opera) Culture Exhibition to Liverpool in partnership with China Suzhou government. The exhibition is supported by University of Liverpool and partners, and runs with free admission from 7 December 2022 to 6 February 2023 between 10am - 5pm on workdays at Liverpool Confucius Institute.

Curated by China Suzhou Foreign Affairs Office and delivered by Liverpool China Partnership and the member organisation of the University of Liverpool Confucius Institute, this exhibition showcases 32 large print images of Chinese Kunqu Opera culture, including its history, characters, costumes, facial makeup, musical instruments, and plays etc. It, for the first time in history, formally introduces Kunqu Opera culture indetail to the audience in Liverpool, coupled with Kunqu Opera performancerecordings produced by the notable Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater of Jiangsu. This exhibition is part of its world tour. Liverpool City Region was chosen as thefirst destination during its tour in the UK, due to its long-lasting friendshipcity ties with Suzhou.

Exhibition opened by Liverpool China Partnership and the member organisation of the University of Liverpool Confucious Institute

32 large print images of Chinese Kunqu Opera culture are on display at LCI from 7 Dec 2022 to 6 Feb 2023 with free admission

China’s Kunqu Opera, one of the oldest formsof opera in China, originated in Kunshan, Suzhou, and has a history of over 600 years. Kunqu Opera incorporates poem, music, song, dance and opera, andoccupies an important part in the history of Chinese literature, traditionalopera, music and dance that is considered the root of China’s opera. KunquOpera was listed as representative work of oral and intangible human heritages by UNESCO in May 2001.

Gary Millar, Liverpool China Partnership President, says: ‘Another outstanding collaboration between Suzhou and Liverpool. One built on a unique relationship between Xi’an Jiaotong University and the University of Liverpool, the world’s original red brick university. It is an absolute pleasure for us that the Liverpool China Partnership has been able to facilitate bringing this exhibition to Liverpool as part of its world tour. We also recognise and thank the thousands of international students for being a significant contributor to our local economy and for helping us bring examples of arts and culture to the UK and to Liverpool.’