Enormous Taihu rock lands in San Antonio

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Consul General of China in Houston Cai Wei agreed that when it comes to lasting friendship, a rock weighing 6.5 tons might be one of the best objects to symbolize that.

The 12-foot tall, 6-foot wide Taihu rock was officially dedicated to the San Antonio Museum of Arts (SAMA) on Wednesday night on the bank of the famous Riverwalk by attendees from San Antonio and Wuxi.

SAMA Art Director Katherine Luber recounted how SAMA assistant curator Shawn Yuan whispered in her ear, "Ask for a rock" when she was discussing possible collaboration with Wuxi Vice Mayor Liu Xia last year. Liu was leading a delegation to participate in San Antonio's Tricentennial.

The words eventually led Luber and Yuan to a quarry by Taihu Lake in China, where they picked out the rock they would like as part of the SAMA collection. After a monthlong transoceanic voyage, the rock finally arrived in San Antonio early this year and was installed.

Wuxi and San Antonio became sister cities in 2012. With a canal running through both cities, the two also became sister canals last year.

Nirenberg had visited Wuxi when he was a City Council member.

"Our vibrant sister-city relationship with Wuxi has featured a number of exchanges increasing the global diplomacy of residents in both cities. As chairman of Sister Cities International, the importance of cultural activities and exchanges is all the more relevant at a time like this. Culture is the glue that holds everything together and through which we celebrate our shared humanity," Nirenberg said.

Cai called the Taihu rock a milestone for friendly exchanges between the two cities and a symbol of building more connections.

"We are glad to see the precious Taihu rock to be placed along the lovely and tranquil riverside as a unique decoration of the city and a symbol of long-lasting friendship," Cai said.

Sun Guoxiang, vice secretary-general of Standing Committee of Wuxi Municipal People's Congress, led a delegation of seven at the dedication.

"We have had extensive exchanges with city officials and museum staff to learn about their cultural event ideas in the last two days. We are amazed to learn that the annual Fiesta San Antonio has had 120 years of history and held more than 100 events each year. We could learn something from that," Sun said.

Porous rock is an important aesthetic symbol in Chinese tradition and especially appreciated among Chinese scholars. In order to help Americans to better understand this Chinese art form, Wuxi Museum brought 30 art objects primarily from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to showcase the art and lifestyle of ancient Chinese scholars. The exhibition will last until Feb 9, 2020 at SAMA.

Art patrons Barbara and George Williams and Rose and John Hendra have made major contributions to make the project possible.

"My husband was born in China. We took our family of 12 to China [in the late 1990s]. We went to Beijing, Shanghai, and ended up in Wuxi. We are very privileged to have the rock made available to SAMA," said Rose Hendra.

"It's a wonderful idea to connect the cities and countries, because in this world, we are too separated. We don't collaborate enough. We don't see the commonality that we all have as human beings. That's primarily our reason to support this project," said Barbara Williams.