I read a few but very interesting remarks about the China Poly Group in Marzia Varutti’s book Museums in China – The Politics of Representation after Mao, published 2014. On Page 48-50 and on page 85 Varutti writes that the China Poly Group’s director used to be a highranking officer of the People’s Liberation Army. The China Poly Group also founded the NGO “China Foundation for the Development of Social Culture” in 2002 and is focusing on purchasing Chinese cultural relics by auction, which provenience might be doubtful or at least unknown.
Stefanie Schaller <stefanie.schaller@posteo.de>
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Thanks for that! Not bad as an introduction. Very interesting that they are globalizing themselves even more. There’s been quite a few writings about the Poly group before, including when they’ve bought “back” things on auction in HK.
For example this article was cited on MCLC back in in 2013, A Culture of Bidding: An Art Power Rises in China, Posing Issue for Reform, by Graham Bowley and David Barboza, additional Research by Amanda Cox and Shi Da. NYT (11/28/13). http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/china-poly-auction/
Also see these:
Fotopoulos, Annetta. “Understanding the Zodiac Saga in China: World Cultural Heritage, National Humiliation, and Evolving Narratives.” Modern China 41.6 (2015), 603-630.
Patriotic Chinese Collectors Bid for Their Treasures. By JANE PERLEZ. NYT, June 7, 2004. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/07/arts/design/07COLL.html
Dewar, Susan. “The Poly Art Museum, Beijing.” Orientations (Hong Kong) [ISSN: 0030-5448] vol. 31, no.1 (Jan. 2000), 77-78.
Lawton, Thomas. Review of: Baoli cang jin (Selected Bronzes in the Collection of the Poly Art Museum) by Baoli yishu bowuguan (Poly Art Museum). Artibus Asiae, Vol. 60, No. 1 (2000), 180-185.
Also, I included a brief mention of Poly’s buybacks, in my chapter, “The politics of cultural heritage.” In Lee, Ching Kwan and Hsing, You-tien, eds. Reclaiming Chinese Society: The New Social Activism. London: Routledge, 2010, Chapter 12, 225-45. ISBN: 9780415491372.
And see their websites: http://en.polyculture.com.cn/ (not opening right now)
www.worldcat.org shows 30+ titles of catalogs, etc. issued by the museum, 保利兿術博物館, which is obviously quite wealthy …
What else has been written about them? Anything about the unverified (unverifiable?) rumors that have circulated about how their buying back of things is actually of things shipped to HK for the purpose of buying them back, in some kind of scheme related to tax and money issues?
regards,
Magnus Fiskesjö <nf42@cornell.edu>
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China Poly Group Corp is an influential State Owned Enterprise with strong military ties and interests in real estate, weapons, explosives, mining and culture. The Poly Hong Kong website may be more helpful for non-Chinese readers than the site for the parent company.
There is a brief company profile on Bloomberg as well as more in-depth coverage on NY Times and PRI.
I don’t have any personal experience with the company, other than having attended events at Poly Theater, at Dongsishitiao in Beijing and walked past Poly Plaza at Dongzhimen numerous times.
Best,
凤兰 Alicia Noel <aliciaknoel@gmail.com>