Field Trip: China Through the Looking Glass

By Stacy Kunstel

There’s a reason the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has extended the run of its exhibit China Through the Looking Glass. Despite reports of record setting crowds and even museum goers flying in from Europe and Asia to see the exhibit, I’m convinced it’s running longer so that I can see it again and take more friends.

Like other seasonal rites such as Kips Bay, High Point, the Boston Design Center’s October Day of Design, New England Home’s own Design Hall of Fame and other annual celebrations I always look forward to the annual fashion-inspired show at the Met. This one is worth the visit.

The exhibit, even larger than the Alexander McQueen show from a few years back, encompasses almost 30,000 square feet over multiple floors. Haute couture dresses (the fashion spans the mid-1700s to the present), porcelain, art, movies, calligraphy and product design all influenced by Chinese culture are juxtaposed with one another.

Here are a few of my own candid shots.

Photography by Stacy Kunstel

I thought it was particularly interesting from an interiors standpoint to see how often the patterns and even the shapes were borrowed by fashion designers decorative objects. One collection of dresses looks as if the designers copied the patterns and shapes directly from ancient porcelain bowls and plates.

This is the photo collage I created for Instagram from the show.

I hope you’ll all have a chance to see this exhibit, which ends on September 7.