In conjunction with Wang Guangyi’s Cold War Aesthetics exhibition at the Louise Blouin Institute
A discussion with; Katie Hill, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Chinese Art and Asian Studies at the University of Westminster, Dr Kerry Brown, Senior Fellow at Chatham House on the Asia Programme and Mary Ginsberg, Curator at the British Museum . Chaired by Novelist Diane Wei Liang.
While state control and censorship over such topics as Tibetan independence, the Falun Gong and pornography remain pervasive throughout China, the last decade accompanying the Chinese economic expansion has witnessed a relaxation of state control over cultural forms of expression. In 2006, the Guardian Newspaper, when commenting on the Shanghai Biennale even offered that state sponsorship of the exhibition was an effort by the Chinese government to “co-opt contemporary art to advertise the productivity and tolerance of a new China”.
Wang Guangyi’s exhibition titled “Cold War Aesthetics” at the Louise Blouin Institute directly addresses the imagery and imaginary of 1950’s-60’s Chinese state propaganda. The exhibition represents how Contemporary Chinese artists, with irony and wit are engaging with the political. This panel will ask how contemporary Chinese art both challenges and is supported by the current political make-up of China. It will also ask how Chinese artists address the political contemporary realities at time when China, while experiencing growing-pains is incrementally moving towards greater openness.
