In Beijing opera, each character has special make-up designed to visualize his or her characteristics. For example, the mask of Guan Yu is usually painted in red to symbolize his loyalty and righteousness. The masks for the same character may vary in different stories. Zhang Fei often wears a black mask to show his masculine appearance, but in this papercut he is painted with a funny face to amuse the audience during a comedy performance.
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
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