Bats are used in China as a symbol for luck. Courtesy Museum of East Asian Art

The Museum of East Asian Art in Bath has announced a busy programme with a new exhibition and a range of events to celebrate Museums and Galleries Month 2006.

Happiness and Blessings: Hidden Meaning in Chinese Art runs until August 13 2006 and illustrates the cultural significance of symbolic motifs in Chinese art, exploring the idea of the ‘Five Happinesses’ – luck, prosperity, longevity, happiness and wealth.

For centuries, many Chinese have believed that to increase their chances of a happy and prosperous life they should include lucky objects, images and words into their daily lives.

It looks at how these themes are related to particular motifs through the use of pictorial puns, a practice used since the Han dynasty (206BC-220AD). Many Chinese words are very similar and only distinguished by a slight variation of tone, making it particularly easy to make puns or plays on words.

Ivory card case decorated with 'lucky' crabs and fish. Courtesy Museum of East Asian Art

Many of the lucky motifs in Chinese art are made in this way, known visually as rebuses. For example, the Chinese word for bat is ‘fu’, which has the same sound as the word for luck; bats are therefore often used as motifs to send good luck messages.

The museum is also taking part in Connect Five, a series of events for Museums and Galleries Month, running throughout May 2006 and exploring the theme of Making Connections – Past, Present and Future.

The Cross Connections exhibition will be held at Bath’s newly refurbished Central Library from May 8-12, aiming to get more people interested in their local museums, libraries and galleries.

Chinese bowl with 'shou' character. Courtesy Museum of East Asian Art

Understanding Connections is a series of four interactive workshops held on every Saturday throughout May at the museum, looking at alternative ways of interpreting Chinese art.

School-aged children can join in the Recycling Connections workshop on May 20, exploring how you can tell stories without using words, focusing on stories and themes associated with East Asian art.

Singles can meet like-minded people at the Art Connections art and wine evening on May 25.

The final event, Dramatic Connections, is a children’s workshop on May 27 where younger visitors will have a chance to explore the museum’s collection themselves.