Call for Papers

2nd International Forum

CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART AND THE WORLD

Peking University, School of Arts

Beijing, 16th March 2024

The multipolar (art)world order

The development of China’s vibrant contemporary art scene is impossible to understand without reference to the reform and opening-up that has been so crucial to the development of Chinese society. This process occurred in the context of what social and economic historians have called the ‘globalized world’.

In this context, it was natural for Chinese artists to look towards the international art scene for inspiration and validation. Today, an internal metamorphosis along with external challenges are reshaping these dynamics. On the one hand, cross-cultural ideological barriers and an increasingly complex international situation have made communication more difficult. On the other hand, the Chinese artworld is becoming more autonomous and self-reliant, building upon its recent development while drawing from an artistic tradition that spans millennia.

This Forum aims to explore the present and future of art in the scenario just described. Are we facing a turning point in the global institutional framework of art as we know it, or will artistic practices and institutions prove to be more resilient than their counterparts in other spheres of human life?

Some more specific questions and topics include:

1. The role of technology. How do artists worldwide face the challenges and possibilities posed by the rise of new technologies – AI technology's rapid and dazzling development is perhaps the most pertinent example?

2. Art and global challenges. The contemporary world is also marked by an awareness of issues that far exceed national boundaries and local interests, chief among them global climate change. How do artists respond to these challenges, and how does their work translate across national boundaries?

3. Art and cultural identity. How has art been used to shape cultural and national identity in the contemporary artistic scene? What is the role of top-down, government-led initiatives versus bottom-up artistic movements and phenomena?

Format: 20 minutes presentation, 10 minutes Q&A.

Submissions:

The forum welcomes submission from PhD candidates and early career scholars from any relevant background.

While the Forum’s primary focus is on Chinese contemporary art, we welcome submissions that treat a wide range of questions as long as they bear a clear relation to the topic of this Call for Papers.

Paper proposals, in the form of a long abstract (ca. 500 words), along with a CV, may be sent until the 25th January 2024 to the following address:

ccawpku@163.com

The Authors of accepted papers will be notified by the first week of February.

Accommodation:

Scholars whose paper is selected for presentation will be offered free accommodation for two nights at a location nearby Peking University’s campus.