‘Expanding the 1980s: The Landscape of Art in China and East Asia’ returns the focus to the development of contemporary Chinese art in relation to its surrounding countries during the crucial transitional period of the 1980’s. Beginning with a look at the political and cultural changes during the decade in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the symposium aims to examine the subtle ties between contemporary Chinese art and the modernist movements from the prewar period, and explore the different individual art practices in terms of how they were influenced by political transitions in history. At the same time, it will also probe into the cultural and political landscape in Japan and Korea during the final years of the Cold War and the beginning of globalisation, as part of M+’s sustained comparative studies of differences as well as parallels and similarities between artistic practices in these neighboring countries in the region, before the rise of the age of globalisation and frequent and free exchanges between them.

Date: 13 January 2015

Time: 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Venue: agnès b. CINEMA, Hong Kong Arts Centre (2 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong)

Language: English, with Cantonese simultaneous interpretation

Speakers:

• Kim Heejin, Independent Curator and Writer / Guest Curator at Asian Culture Complex, Gwangju
• Victor Lai, Associate Professor, Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University
• Shen Kuiyi , Director of Chinese Studies Program and Professor of Asian Art History, Theory, and Criticism, UC San Diego
• Yu Wei, PhD candidate in Humanities and Cultural Studies at Birkbeck (London Consortium), University of London

Enquiries: m+@wkcda.hk / 2200 0204

Free Admission. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Online registration is now closed. Walk-in registrations will be allowed depending on the availability of seats on the day.

When typhoon signal no. 8 or above is hoisted, or the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is issued by the Hong Kong Observatory on or after 2pm on the event date, the event will be cancelled.