The Forum hosted a press conference with Alexander Sedov, Director General of the State Museum of Oriental Art, and Maria Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
The event announced the exhibition The Magic of Purple Clay: Yixing Zisha Ceramics, which will open at the State Museum of Oriental Art on September 24, 2025. The exhibition is organized within the Russia China Cross Year of Culture. The display will feature works from the collections of the State Museum of Oriental Art, the Peterhof State Museum Reserve, as well as items from the private collection of Maria Zakharova and Gleb Muzrukov, and pieces by contemporary masters of the Yixing Ceramic Association.
A few months ago, representatives of the Yixing Ceramic Association from the Chinese city of Yixing approached us with a proposal to stage an exhibition of contemporary Yixing ceramics. These are mainly teapots. For those unfamiliar, this is a well known craft produced from a special clay. This tradition is more than 700 years old and originated in the late Ming dynasty, explained Alexander Sedov.
According to the Director General of the State Museum of Oriental Art, preparations for the exhibition revealed a longstanding tradition of collecting this pottery in Russia.
One of the best collections of this ceramics in Russia belongs to Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova. That is why we invited her to take part in the exhibition. With this we wanted to show that, in addition to museum collecting, our country also has private collecting, added Alexander Sedov, emphasizing that the majority of the exhibits are contemporary works by Yixing masters.
The uniqueness of the exhibition lies in the fact that, thanks to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the State Museum of Oriental Art, we will be able to present several facets of this type of Chinese art. First, we will tell its history, which can be read in the catalog and on the exhibition stands. Second, we will showcase the collections themselves. More than 50 teapots will be displayed from private collections, and not only mine. But perhaps the most resonant note of the event is the part involving Chinese masters who will come in person and share not only their craft, but also their attitude to this art form, their emotions, their personal creative stories, noted Maria Zakharova, also promising additional events within the exhibition. Follow the press releases, we will share all the details, but the exhibition, in my view, is already taking shape and amazes with its many dimensions.
The Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian MFA also noted that the organizers will do everything possible to ensure that people in Russia can engage with the exhibition in an interactive format.
I do not yet know exactly what the Chinese masters will bring, it will be a surprise for me. I am looking forward to it. I am sure it will be a real event. It is gratifying that the exhibition is timed to the Cross Year of the two cultures, Russia and China. The peoples of our countries should know more about each other, concluded Maria Zakharova.