Through the Looking Glass

By Fan Lu & Tao Xing

Museum exhibits are usually protected by glass cases or windows. However， at the Six Arts Museum in Lili， an ancient town in Suzhou， Jiangsu Province， visitors can approach and physically touch the exhibits.

According to Mitch Dudek， founder of the Six Arts Museum， the pieces inside the museum， mostly Chinese antiques， are crafted from wood and stone， and therefore are not easily damaged while at the same time being relatively convenient to protect and repair. This is the main reason why visitors are allowed to touch them， Dudek said， “very gently， though.”

The “Six” in Six Arts refers to the six senses， Dudek explained. “Visitors are able to fully immerse themselves in the art and atmosphere here through their sense of vision， hearing， smell， taste and touch， and meanwhile， we hope that the museum also mobilizes our visitors sixth sense of wellbeing， allowing them to fully appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the Chinese folk arts on display，” Dudek told Beijing Review.

Dudek， hailing from the U.S. state of Ohio， first came to China in 1981 as an international student and went on to become a lawyer at one American law firms Shanghai office after graduation. He has lived in China for 40 years， more years than he spent growing up in the U.S.

“I became interested in Chinese culture and ancient art pieces immediately upon my arrival in China，” Dudek said. “I had never seen this kind of art before， and everything was fresh and new to me.” From that moment onwards， he began collecting a wide variety of folk arts and antiques dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties （1368-1911）.

A museum journey

Over the past 40 years， Dudek has traveled all over China， visiting almost every province， going on to collect more than a hundred thousand artifacts. These include architectural salvage pieces， stone and wood carvings， temple and domestic folk arts， and antique furniture and furnishings.

“I filled up rented warehouses one after another. Meanwhile， my mother teased me about how crazy I was for collecting so many pieces，” Dudek told Beijing Review. “But I never stopped.”

Of course， the road to collecting is rarely easy. In the past， the greatest challenge was transportation as it was difficult to get things from the countryside delivered to Shanghai. “That is no longer a problem due to the rapid development of modern logistics throughout China，”Dudek said. In addition， as a lawyer， Dudek was extremely busy advising foreign companies how to invest in China. “It is not too hard to find out where I could collect these items， but I did not have much time to go，” he said.