Message from Clay Dube

[clay dube]

Here's a report Thuy-doan Nguyen composed regarding her visit:

January 28, 2005

The Getty and the Huntington Museum Conference on Chinese Gardens

Unbelievable! I took away so many insights on gardens and arts that day that I wanted to create my own art garden at home or should I say when I own a home. It’s incredible! The presentation included numerous presenters with so many different yet wise ideas. I’ve seen some of the artwork that was presented during the PowerPoint presentation of Philip Hu “Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion: From Poetry and Calligraphy to a Landscape of Cultural Memory” and the handouts of Steven Carter “Tonna’s Trees: The Poetics of Garden Space in Medieval Japan”, but never did I thought of how old or how artistic these things were until I attended this conference. After attending this conference, I really felt the need to be exposed more to these things. I love art, flowers, and nature that they all came together in this conference. During the lunch break, which was absolutely not enough time, walked around the rose garden, the lotus lake, and the Japanese garden I was astonished by the beauty and the art. I feel at home, at peace, at harmony, and a sense of total balance between the mind, the spirit, and the body. I’m not really happy that I had to miss class and attend this conference for make up. However, as a result of missing a class, I was able to take away something so valuable and something that I’ve always dreamt about.

The most enjoyable presentation that day was on the winding cup of ancient China to present day architecture. It was amazing how so many different architectural recreation of this artwork were and are priced by the visitors around the world near the hotels, restaurants, recreation centers, and even museums. I just wish I could visit one of those sights in my lifetime.