POSTED: 30 NOVEMBER 2010

Edmund Capon brings China's entombed warriors back to Sydney

Story: JOHN ROZENTALS; Images: SANDRA BURN WHITE

When Edmund Capon, Director of the Art Gallery of NSW, was in London a few years ago, he was told with great excitement about an exhibition he really should see at the British Museum — The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army.

While not exactly saying “Been there, done that”, Capon did point out that in 1983 Australia had been the first country outside China to exhibit some of the remarkable statues which had been uncovered in western China in 1974 ... and, indeed, that the same year he had been one of the first Westerners to be shown the figures.

It was when the enthusiastic Londoner pointed out that he had only been two years old in 1983, that Capon realised it was time to bring the figures back to Australia — and not just as done originally, but bigger and better, and including many objects uncovered in subsequent years.

Even the completely untrained historic lobe of my brain can immediately realise just what a significant find the warriors were — more than 7000 life-size figures, all individually featured, placed to guide Qin Shihuang (259–206BC), China’s first emperor, into the afterlife.

But, as Capon pointed out today while a media scrum assembled to preview the show before its opening to the public on Thursday 2 December under the title The First Emperor: China’s Entombed Warriors, Sydney isn’t just another port of call for what has become one of the driving forces in China’s ambassadorial efforts.

Just as Sydney produced the “best Olympics ever”, Capon reckons that the gallery’s senior curator of Chinese art, Dr Liu Yang, and Richard Johnson, the architect of its Asian section, have put together the ultimate display of the Qin Dynasty warriors.

This is a superb show and should be on everyone’s summer must-see list. It’s unlikely that the terracotta army will return to Australia for quite some years so grab your opportunity before it departs for other shores on 13 March.

Admission is $20 per adult ($15 concession, $55 family). For further information, please visit Art Gallery of NSW.

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Edmund Capon

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