During the exhibition period Chinese Arts Centre will be organising workshops and demonstrations.

Mary Tang and Cathy Wu will be leading Calligraphy and Brush painting workshops on Saturday 28 August and Saturday 4 September, respectively.

For families and children: 10am - 11:45
For Adults: 1pm - 3:15pm

Chinese Arts Centre pays tribute to two artists, Mary Tang and Cathy Wu, who have shown commitment to the Centre over the last 20 years. Both artists have worked as workshop leaders for the Centre but are also accomplished ink brush painting and calligraphy artists in their own right.

Cathy Wu (Chinese name Yat Ming Ho) was born in Sichuan, Chengdu and brought up in Hong Kong. She studied Chinese calligraphy under Master calligrapher and painter Lin Chien Shi in Hong Kong.

She has exhibitions in Hong Kong, London, Manchester, Liverpool and Wirral, where she has given talks and workshops in galleries, museums, schools and colleges. In 2007, she was commissioned to write ‘The Chinese Calligraphy Sourcebook’ which was published by Apple Press in Britain; ‘The Chinese Calligraphy Bible’ by Barrons in the US, and by Simon and Schuster in Australia. Last year in June, in order to commemorate their late calligraphy Master, Lin Chien Shi, she and her friends organised a joint exhibition in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver. In 2010, Cathy was invited to hold calligraphy workshops at the Victoria Gallery and Museum of Liverpool University, the Liverpool Museum and was also involved with the Radio Merseyside, Up for Arts project.

Mary Tang (Chinese name Xue Yin Tang) was born in Shanghai and raised in China. She was taught calligraphy by her mother, Liang Wei Yan, a noted Chinese calligrapher.

Whilst studying at the Teacher Training College in Shanghai, Mary was taught Chinese painting by the artist, Lu Shi Hao, who in turn was a student of the renowned Chen Shifa. After qualifying from college, Mary spent twenty-five years teaching in a variety of schools around Shanghai. Mary moved to the UK in 1987, since then, she has taught many of the traditional skills of China, including painting, paper cutting, calligraphy, as well as mask and lantern making and crafts in schools, colleges and universities.

This summer exhibition profiles their work and celebrates this unique traditional Chinese art form, which is technically demanding requiring great skill, concentration and years of training.