Have you seen a film or performance at Doris Duke Theatre lately? Chances are Sarah Fang had a hand in getting it on our stage or screen.

Fang has been involved with the theatre (and thus the museum) since 2013, when she was hired as a part-time theatre projectionist. She was then a box office attendant and most recently been the Doris Duke Theatre program coordinator for about two years.

While she’s always loved film, Fang never thought to pursue it as a career path. Instead, while at the University of Southern California, she studied international relations and studied abroad in Jordan and Beijing.

“It was through working here part-time that I really initially developed a true love for film and the cinematic arts,” she says. “I really feel that the theatre provides a great space where we can do a lot of amazing things. We screen films that you don’t find really anywhere else around the island and more recently, we’ve really become a place where we can have some civil discourse about issues that are pertinent to our community today and really, around the world. I think that the theatre is also a really great place to also bring people together.”

When asked about her favorite piece in the museum, she heads straight to the Chinese Art galleries. She stops in front of a glass case showcasing four small statues called Three Lady Polo Players and Foreign Groom on Horse Back.

“One of my earliest memories of the museum was coming here in high school with my Asian studies class and coming into this gallery specifically and going through all the pieces,” she says. “We were challenged to identify each piece of work with their respective dynasties or its eras in Chinese history without looking at the labels.”

“One of the things I still remember to this day is the Tang horse, which I can identify by three key points: the thick neck, the little tail, and the big butt.”

“Every time I come here and I see this piece, it always brings me nostalgia,” she continues. “I always think it’s so badass because it features women on these horses riding astride and showing that women were capable back in the day at really the height of the Tang dynasty, which was one of the most glorious periods of Chinese history.”