Chris Tucker and Sun Mingming in Rush Hour 3 (2007)
Major world powers including China have often resorted to soft power through art, film, and sports as tools of diplomacy. A perfect example of this is when China exports basketball players that tower over most of their American NBA counterparts, such as 7 ft 9 in Sun Mingming. As so many other realms, the high-paced excitement of professional basketball is not immune to the mere presence of one of the world’s tallest men on center court. His actual ball-playing notwithstanding, Mingming’s height and stature in a game that rewards the tallest-of-the-tall is an example of soft power most young boys can only dream of achieving as they play H-O-R-S-E in their midwestern suburban driveways, where the wind comes a whippin’ down the plain…
Now, however, for a short time, those in Oklahoma City who would like to explore more about China’s relationship with soft power through art, the new traveling exhibition “My Generation: Young Chinese Artists” at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art showcases the divergent works of more than 25 artists ranging in age from 27 to 36 — and it seeks to shatter stereotypes about Chinese art and modern-day China: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-museum-of-art-explores-21st-century-chinese-art-in-new-exhibit-my-generation-opening-saturday/article/5356777, and Photographer Liu Di makes as huge an impact with images of giant pandas, rhinos, and birds interacting with humanity as did the entire Rush Hour franchise. The exhibit is on display in Oklahoma City through January 18, 2015.