Global Context, Berlin 22-24 Oct 09)

International Conference
NEGOTIATING DIFFERENCE.
CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT

Venue: Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Theatre
Address: John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin, Germany
Date: 22 to 24 October 2009
Organiser: East Asian Art History, Freie Universität Berlin

There is always a tension in Chinese contemporary art between globally
informed locality and locally influenced globality, whether seen from the
perspective of the art itself, the discourse around it, or the institutions.
The conference sheds light on this phenomenon from a transcultural
perspective. It calls for re-thinking traditional concepts, and a productive
questioning of conventional approaches to research. The conference is a
forum for scholars across the globe who are working on different facets of
contemporary Chinese art in diverse disciplinary contexts.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

THURSDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2009

16:00 WELCOME ADDRESS
Bernd M. Scherer (Director, Haus der Kulturen der Welt)
Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch (Chair, East Asian Art History, Freie Universität
Berlin)

Sunrise - The China Avant-Garde Exhibition in Berlin January 1993
Andreas Schmid (independent artist and curator, Berlin)

KEYNOTE
Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art: Three Issues
John Clark (ARC Professorial Fellow, Department of Art History & Film,
University of Sydney)

FRIDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2009

9:00 Introduction - Birgit Hopfener (Freie Universität Berlin)
I. CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART IN THE TRANSNATIONAL AND
TRANSCULTURAL CONTEXT. AGENTS OF CULTURAL TRANSLATION
PANEL IA MULTIPLE MODERNITIES

9:20 Landscapes of Exclusion: The No Name Group and Multiple
Modernities
Juliane Noth (Freie Universität Berlin)

9:40 The Road of China's Modern Art: Self-Consciousness and Four Isms
Wang Ruiyun (Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing)

10:00 Panel Response - Gao Minglu (University of Pittsburgh)
PANEL IB PROCESSES OF IDENTIFICATION

10:50 Destroy the Mirror of Representation. Negotiating Installation Art
in the "Third Space"
Birgit Hopfener (Freie Universität Berlin)

11:10 Cai Guoqiang's Fireworks: Igniting a Paranational Landscape
Brianne Cohen (University of Pittsburgh)

11:30 Panel Response - John Clark (University of Sydney)

II. THE NEGOTIATION OF TRADITION

12:00 At the Threshold of (In-)Visibility. The White Landscape Paintings
by Qiu Shihua
Silke von Berswordt (Art Collection Ruhr-Universität Bochum)

12:20 When Contemporary Art Encounters a National Treasure.
Fan Kuan’s Travelers Within Mountains and Streams
Wang Ching-ling (Freie Universität Berlin)

12:40 Panel Response - Uta Rahman-Steinert (Asian Art Museum, Berlin)

III. CONCEPTS OF BODY AND GENDER IN CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART
PANEL IIIA

14:00 Ziran in Contemporary Chinese Art
Wang Ruobing (University of Oxford)

14:20 Expressions of Body and Gender in Chinese Contemporary Art:
Performances by Zhang Huan, Ma Liuming and He Chengyao
Doris Ha-lin Sung (York University, Toronto)

14:40 Panel Response - Juliane Noth (Freie Universität Berlin)

PANEL IIIB

15:30 Masquerading Brides and Grooms: An Analysis of Three Art Portraits
in the Medium of Photography
Eva Aggeklint (Stockholm University)

15:50 A Question of Desire: Women, Bodies and Performance Art in China
Adele Tan (Courtauld Institute of Art, London)

16:10 Panel Response - Karin Gludovatz (Freie Universität Berlin)

IV. CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART AND ITS SPACES OF PRODUCTION

17:00 A History of Realism in Chinese Art Pedagogy. How Realism Affects
Contemporary Art Production and Consumption
Lee Ambrozy (Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing)

17:20 Made in China: Qiu Anxion's "We are the World"
Wenny Teo (University of London)

17:40 Panel Response - Pauline Yao (independent art critic and curator,
Beijing)

SATURDAY, 24 OCTOBER 2009

9:00 Introduction - Franziska Koch (Universität Heidelberg)

V. CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART AND STRATEGIES OF (DIS-)ENGAGEMENT

9:20 Situating Socially Engaged Art in China
Zheng Bo (University of Rochester)

9:40 Non-Antagonistic Contradiction: Alternative Spatial Practices and
Provisional Communities in Contemporary China
Beatrice Leanza (independent curator, Beijing)

10:00 Panel Response - Thomas Berghuis (University of Sydney)

VI. CURATING CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART

10:50 The Perfection of the Imperfection or the Principles of Adaptation
Davide Quadrio (BizArt Art Center, Shanghai/ Arthub Hongkong)

11:10 Everyone Curates: From Global Avant-garde to Local Reality
Meiqin Wang (California State University, Northridge)

11:30 Panel Response - Francesca Dal Lago (Leiden University)

VII. DIS-PLAYING CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART

12:00 China and the World: The Official Re-Positioning of Chinese
Contemporary Art onto the Global Stage at the Start of the Twenty-First
Century
Thomas Berghuis (University of Sydney)

12:20 (Dis-)Playing "Mahjong". Uli Sigg and the Power of Private
Collectors in the Global Canonization of Chinese Contemporary Art
Franziska Koch (Universität Heidelberg)

12:40 Panel Response - Hans Belting (Staatliche Hochschule für
Gestaltung,Karlsruhe)

VIII. CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART: MARKET AND MEANING

14:00 Contemporary Chinese Art in the International Auction Market: An
Insider's Overview and Assessment in Comparative Perspective
Joe Martin Hill (New York University)

14:20
Critical Discourses: Debating the Value of Contemporary Chinese Art
in the 1990s
Peggy Wang (University of Chicago)

14:40 Panel Response - Francesca Dal Lago (Leiden University)

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION: PERSPECTIVES ON FUTURE RESEARCH

15:30 Panel Discussion chaired by Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch
(East Asian Art History, Freie Universität Berlin)

Panelists:
Hans Belting
(Art History, Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe)
Thomas Berghuis
(Department of Art History & Film, University of Sydney)
John Clark
(Department of Art History & Film, University of Sydney)
Li-qing Dai
(Art History, National Changhua University of Education)
Gao Minglu
(Art History, University of Pittsburgh)
Francesca Dal Lago
(Leiden Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University)

The international conference is hosted by:
Freie Universität Berlin
Department of History and Cultural Studies
Institute of Art History
East Asian Art History
Koserstr. 20
14195 Berlin, Germany
Phone: ++49 30 838-53868
Fax: ++49 30 838-53810
E-Mail: oakgzedat.fu-berlin.de
www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/e/khi/abteilung_ostasien
www.fu-berlin.de/conference-negotiating-difference

Head: Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch
Conference Concept: Birgit Hopfener, Franziska Koch
Conference Organisation: Ronald Kiwitt, Juliane Noth