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"Treasures from the Forbidden City," the blockbuster exhibit opening next week at the Peabody Essex Museum, is dazzling proof that the ties between Salem and China, now more than two centuries old, are still as strong as ever.
Officials at Beijing's Palace Museum and the World Monuments Fund could have chosen any number of American museums in which to open the exhibit of paintings, murals and religious artifacts commissioned in the 18th century by the Qianlong emperor to decorate his private residence and garden within the Forbidden City. But they chose PEM, according to Henry Ng, executive vice president of the international preservation organization, because of its curators' expertise in the field of Chinese art and its outstanding restoration of the Yin Yu Tang House, brought here from Anhui province and reconstructed on the museum grounds in downtown Salem.
Given PEM curator of Chinese art Nancy Berliner's familiarity with the objects found within the garden complex, Ng said, the museum "was really the only choice for this project."
PEM Executive Director Dan Monroe does not exaggerate when he describes the exhibit as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to see these works of art. Very few were allowed access to what was a retirement retreat for members of the Chinese royal family after it was built in the 1700s, and it lay dormant between 1924 when the last emperor left the Forbidden City in 1924 and Chinese officials and the WMF decided to take on its restoration in 2001. The objects on display in Salem beginning Sept. 14 will travel to New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum next year, and then be returned to China and permanently reinstalled in their original locations when the restoration of the Qianlong Garden is complete in 2019.
The exhibit represents a coup both for the museum and city whose ties with China go back to the era when Salem sea captains opened trade routes with the Far East. It also represents a recognition of the leading role Salem and the museum have played in the restoration and preservation of historic structures ranging from the Yin Yu Tang House to Old Town Hall to the Crowninshield-Bentley House.
This has been a great summer for tourism in Salem, with the number of visitors up 12 percent from last year by Destination Salem's count. This latest PEM exhibit, which runs through Jan. 9, provides a great reason to visit the city this fall even if you have no interest in witches and haunted houses.
