Date: 6 Oct 2026 - 6 Oct 2026
This talk will introduce the Garden of Flowing Fragrance (Liu Fang Yuan) at The Huntington in Southern California, as well as exhibitions and programs its curators have mounted to share Chinese garden culture with American audiences. Conceived in dialogue with Chinese diasporic and Chinese American community members, and constructed between 2004 and 2020 in collaboration with architects and artisans from Suzhou, Liu Fang Yuan is the largest classical-style garden outside of China. Today, the garden features a small art gallery, an interactive scholar’s studio, and a distinguished penjing collection; further, it hosts weekly concerts, monthly lectures, and an annual artist’s residency program. Sited among The Huntington’s extensive collections, Liu Fang Yuan has become a platform for a variety of cultural programs that seek to open Chinese arts to local communities.
This is a part of the UMAG Lecture Series 2026. For other lectures in the series, please click here.
Date: October 6, 2026
Time: 11am – 12pm (HKT)
Venue: Online via Zoom
Languages: English
Please click here to register.
Speaker: Phillip E. Bloom, K.C. Li Curator of the Chinese Garden and Director of the Center for East Asian Garden Studies, The Huntington in San Marino, California
Discussant: Florian Knothe, Director, University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong
Speaker
Phillip E. Bloom is the June and Simon K.C. Li Curator of the Chinese Garden and Director of the Center for East Asian Garden Studies at The Huntington in San Marino, California. He specialises in the history of gardens and art of China’s Song dynasty (960–1279). He received his Ph.D. in Chinese art history from Harvard University in 2013. Prior to joining The Huntington in 2017, he served as assistant professor of East Asian art history at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Discussant
Florian Knothe serves as director of HKU’s University Museum. A scholar of the history of decorative arts in the 17th and 18th centuries, with particular focus on the social and historical importance of royal manufacture, he publishes and lectures internationally on the early modern fascination with Chinoiserie and cross-cultural influences in art in Europe and East Asia. As a Museum Studies professor, Florian teaches curation and prepares the next generation of museum professionals who will shape the growing scene of cultural institutions in greater China and beyond. He began his career at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, focusing on European sculpture and decorative arts. Before joining HKU, he was Curator of European glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, overseeing the European and East Asian collections.