Zhouna Ma, a sophomore in Mathematical Sciences, is the current Posner Intern, whose exhibit on Peking Opera is in the Posner Center January 26, - April 30, 2018. We spoke with Zhouna about her experience with the internship.
How did you hear about the internship?
I found out about the internship from IDEATE weekly emails.
Why were you interested in curating an exhibit on the topic of Peking Opera?
I decided to design an exhibit on Peking Opera because:
- I have a cultural roots in China and my grandma was an opera actress.
- I was surprised to see the Posner Collection had a repertoire on Peking Opera, which was unusual since Peking Opera is not very well-known to most westerners and CMU does not have a significant Asian Studies program.
What was the most challenging part of the process of putting together the exhibit?
The most challenging part was to narrow all the scattered resources down to a few topics that fit into the six cases. We spent a lot of time gathering books and photos from the Posner Collection, Hunt Library, even Hillman Library at Pitt. And when it comes to editing, it was a pain to not use some precious but not very relevant materials that we spent so much effort finding.
What have been some of the highlights of putting this exhibit together? Is there a featured piece that is your favorite?
There are two things I like most. First, I made a live hand cast out of plaster to show the hand performance of Mei Lan-Fang, a famous Peking Opera actor back in the '30s. I used up 10 lbs of plasters and molds and experienced a lot of failures only to have one successful piece. Second, I made a paper installation applying the muybridge cinema theory to show a piece of live Peking Opera. I didn't expect the guests at the opening party liked it so much.
Would you recommend the Posner Internship to other students? If so, can you share a little more about why you'd recommend it?
Yes I will! It is an awesome experience to work with people from the libraries and put together an exhibition from scratch. From ideation to source-gathering, and from designing to installation, you have to take care of every detail and make sure things work.
How do you think the experience as a Posner Intern will impact the remainder of your experience as a student at CMU?
The experience shaped my view of things. I learned a lot from Mary Kay: the skills she has as a librarian and the open-mindedness to different culture as a westerner. Also, I learned to manage my time properly, which is crucial to my future at CMU.