Chinese art and its social space: Displaying painting and calligraphy at expositions and disaster relief exhibitions in the early 20th century
Location
Lingnan University / Online Session via Zoom
Start Date
20-5-2021 10:10 AM
End Date
20-5-2021 11:40 AM
Description
During the late 1900s and 1910s, exhibitions of Chinese painting and calligraphy in parks or public gardens became increasingly popular in the social life of urban China. These exhibitions, usually combined with other social gatherings or events, opened new spaces for traditional-style artists and collectors to connect with the public and the society. This paper seeks to bring up these understudied forms of exhibitions into scholarly attention with two case studies: the Zhongguo Jinshi shuhua saihui (Exposition of Chinese Painting, Calligraphy and Antiquity) held in Shanghai in February and November, 1909 and the exhibition accompanied the Zhuzhen youyi hui (disaster relief fundraising fair) in Beijing Central Park in 1917. It asks: what were the purposes and driving forces of the organizers and the collectors for showing their private collections in public? What were the social and cultural agents that opened these new spaces for viewing Chinese paintings in public? How did the new experience of exhibition affect the public perception of Chinese art objects and art and cultural practices in early-20th century China? By investigating these questions, this paper argues that these early modes of exhibitions, co-produced by preexisted local networks of cultural elites as well as transnational actors, served as both physical and virtual spheres where the cultural identities and values were produced, performed, and consolidated. The early experience of organizing exhibitions and engaging in public affairs via art also empowered traditionalist artists to become the pioneers in staging Chinese culture in the international arena, such as the Sino-Japanese Joint Art Exhibitions in the 1920s.
Recommended Citation
Tu, A. (2021, May). Chinese art and its social space: Displaying painting and calligraphy at expositions and disaster relief exhibitions in the early 20th century. Presented at Then and Now: Collecting Art and Exhibiting Cultures in Asia Conference, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
Chinese art and its social space: Displaying painting and calligraphy at expositions and disaster relief exhibitions in the early 20th century
Lingnan University / Online Session via Zoom
During the late 1900s and 1910s, exhibitions of Chinese painting and calligraphy in parks or public gardens became increasingly popular in the social life of urban China. These exhibitions, usually combined with other social gatherings or events, opened new spaces for traditional-style artists and collectors to connect with the public and the society. This paper seeks to bring up these understudied forms of exhibitions into scholarly attention with two case studies: the Zhongguo Jinshi shuhua saihui (Exposition of Chinese Painting, Calligraphy and Antiquity) held in Shanghai in February and November, 1909 and the exhibition accompanied the Zhuzhen youyi hui (disaster relief fundraising fair) in Beijing Central Park in 1917. It asks: what were the purposes and driving forces of the organizers and the collectors for showing their private collections in public? What were the social and cultural agents that opened these new spaces for viewing Chinese paintings in public? How did the new experience of exhibition affect the public perception of Chinese art objects and art and cultural practices in early-20th century China? By investigating these questions, this paper argues that these early modes of exhibitions, co-produced by preexisted local networks of cultural elites as well as transnational actors, served as both physical and virtual spheres where the cultural identities and values were produced, performed, and consolidated. The early experience of organizing exhibitions and engaging in public affairs via art also empowered traditionalist artists to become the pioneers in staging Chinese culture in the international arena, such as the Sino-Japanese Joint Art Exhibitions in the 1920s.