On the morning of January 20, 2014, “Chinese Nuo Opera • Nuo Mask Art Exhibition”, jointly presented by Chengdu Jinsha Site Museum, Guizhou Ethnic Cultural Palace and Beijing Ethnic Cultural Palace, officially opened to the public at the Jinsha Site Museum. The exhibition runs until April 17.
This exhibition tells what a Nuo Opera is, where it comes from, different types of Nuo Opera performances, various Nuo masks, their designs, colors, and crafts. It is a large-scale assembly of Nuo related artifacts as well as an unprecedented thematic exhibition of Nuo Opera culture in China.
The exhibition features more than 400 valuable cultural relics related to the Nuo culture, including props such as swords, seals and ox horns, Nuo costumes, and Nuo masks from several Chinese ethnic groups.
“Nuo” (傩) is a strange word for many. Generally speaking, it refers to the sacrificial rites that people perform to expel the pestilent evil spirit in a specific season. Nowadays, China is among the countries with the most diverse forms of Nuo Operas.