Nostalgia from the West: China in Western Collections–cfp

Call For Papers
Nostalgia from the West: “China” in Western Collections
Date: May 22-25, 2020 Location: Guangzhou, China

Sponsor:

Boya College, Sun Yat-sen University
Advanced Institute for Humanities, Sun Yat-sen University
School of Art and Archaeology, Zhejiang University
Advanced Institute of Image and History, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts

Organizer:

Advanced Institute for Humanities, Sun Yat-sen University
Advanced Institute of Image and History, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts

Conference Theme:

Museum collections may be considered as ultimate presentations of a culture or nation to which the items belong. Therefore, visitors gain not only an aesthetic experience from artistic works and knowledge about the exhibits, but also understanding about the very culture or nation to which they belong.

For people living in Western societies, perceptions about non-Western cultures or nations is largely shaped by museum collections. Likewise, collected and displayed images of “China” play a significant role in the formation of knowledge about China. Based on an interweaved image of “civilization” and “politics” which are collected as well as exhibited in the West, understandings of China sometimes overlap with images of China conveyed through mass media, but sometimes they diverge, even conflicting with each other. The tensions between them invite further scrutiny.

“Nostalgia from the West: ‘China’ in Western Collections” revolves around this topic; discussion questions include, but are not limited to, the following: When the West began to collect items from China, what kind understandings about China drove those collectors who once lived in China? What kind image or understanding of China did these collectors intended to present to Western buyers, sellers or museums? In modern times, in a buyer’s market, dominated by Western collectors, how Chinese sellers participated in the transactions to promote their own understanding of “China?” When these Chinese objects are collected and exhibited by and in Western museums, what kind image of “China” reaches the Western audience through deliberately designing combinations of the exhibits? With on-going changes in China and its global image during the modern age, what kind of interplays happened between the image of China collected and displayed in western museums and today’s China? Furthermore, what kind of changes were caused by the interplay? In today’s Western museums, what kind of image of China is deliberately collected and displayed through contemporary Chinese art works? And, what kind of tensions exists in-between the displayed “China” and the present China?

Deadline for paper abstract: 20th November, 2019.
Please send your paper abstract to Fangyi Cheng, chengfangyi@icloud.com. Conference invitation letters will be sent out in early December 2019.

会议征稿函
异域故国:西方收藏的“中国”

会议拟定时间:2020年5月22-25日
会议地点:中山大学南校园、广州美术学院昌岗校区

主办单位
中山大学博雅学院、高等人文研究院

合办单位:
浙江大学艺术与考古学院
广州美术学院图像与历史高等研究院

承办单位
中山大学博雅学院、高等人文研究院
广州美术学院图像与历史高等研究院

会议主旨:

博物馆的藏品是其所归属之文明与国家的最终呈现。因此,观者所收获的不仅仅是来自艺术的美感和来自物品的知识,还有对其所属文明与国家的认知。

西方社會关于非西方文明和国家的认知,在很大程度上基于西方博物馆的相关收藏品。同樣地,在有关“中国”的认知形成中,被收藏和被展示的“中国”扮演了重要的角色。这种基于收藏和展示而形成的作为“文明体”与“政治体”的杂糅的中国认知,与大众传媒所传递的中国形象,时有叠合又各有异处,甚至相互冲突。二者之间的张力值得进一步探察。

本次会议将围绕这一主题展开,讨论的问题包括但不限于:当西方开始收藏来自中国的物品时,身处中国的西方收藏者被何种“中国”认知所驱动?他们想通过这些物品向西方的卖家、买家和博物馆展现何种“中国”?近代以来,以西方收藏者为主导的文物买方市场中,中国的卖家又是如何参与到市场中,来推销他们的“中国”?当这些中国物品进入博物馆陈列后,这些物品的组合与陈列的设计向观阅者展现了何种“中国”?随着近代以来中国自身及其国际形象的不断变化,西方收藏的“中国”与博物馆陈列的“中国”又与当下的中国发生了那些互动,并引起了那些变化?今日的西方博物馆对于中国现当代艺术品的收藏与展览又试图展现何种“中国”?这种“中国”与当下的中国之间存在着何种张力?

论文摘要接收截止日期:11月20日
会议方将于12月上旬发出会议邀请函。
联系人:程方毅
联系邮箱: chengfangyi@icloud.com

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