Socially Engaged Art in Contemporary China: Voices from Below

Description

This book provides an in-depth and thematic analysis of socially engaged art in Mainland China, exploring its critical responses to and creative interventions in China's top-down, pro-urban, and profit-oriented socioeconomic transformations. It focuses on the socially conscious practices of eight art professionals who assume the role of artist, critic, curator, educator, cultural entrepreneur, and social activist, among others, as they strive to expose the injustice and inequality many Chinese people have suffered, raise public awareness of pressing social and environmental problems, and invent new ways and infrastructures to support various underprivileged social groups. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Voices from Below: The Potential of Art Activism Socially Engaged Art as A Concept and Practice The Social and Public Turn of Contemporary Chinese Art Ai Weiwei and Art-Political Activism Citizen Intellectuals and Art for Civic Participation Part I Art and Social Criticism Overview 1 Art Criticism, Exhibition, and Citizen Politics: Wang Nanming and the Theory of Critical Art Poisonous Food, Public Mistrust, and the “Reassurance” Campaign Social Criticism and the Theory of Critical Art Contemporary Art as Public Opinion and Artists as Public Intellectuals “Chinese Symbols” Art versus “Chinese Problem Situation” Art The Case of He Chengyao The Case of Qu Yan Exhibition As a Strategy for Social Engagement Critical Art and Citizen Politics 2 Waste, Pollution, and Environmental Activism: Wang Jiuliang and the Power of Documenting Problematizing Urban Waste Production Waste and Contemporary Chinese Art Beijing Besieged by Waste The Dark Reality of Plastic Waste Recycling Pollution, Inequality, and the Trap of Consumerism Censorship of Civic Activism The Possibility of Public Mobilization and Change Part II Art and Place Construction Overview 3 Art, Urban Renewal, and Grassroots Community Building: Zheng Dazhen and Lifestyle Activism Cultural Heritage and Historic Downtown Conservation Old City and New Industries The Good Life Creation Society and Slowness as a Choice Infrastructure for Grassroots Community Building Art, “Artification,” and Urban Development in Quanzhou Cultural Entrepreneur, the Maker of Lifestyle, and Informal Life Politics 4 Rural Reconstruction through Art: Zuo Jing and Place-Making for the People Rural Crisis and the New Rural Reconstruction Movement Rural Reconstruction through Art Zuo Jing and the Bishan Project The Bishan Project Dispute and Its Closure The Maogong Project and an Alternative to Rural Reconstruction Culture Tourism and the Jingmai Mountain Project Place-Making for the People Part III Art and Personal Development Overview 5 From Representation to Collaboration: Wen Fang and Her Participatory Art The Creators of “Heaven” and Wen’s Collaborative Approach Cement Bricks and Migrant Workers From Representation to Direct Engagement Collaboration for Poverty Alleviation and Beyond Charity Reinterpreted and Reactivated Small-Scale Individual Work and the Global Public Sphere 6 Art Education for Children: Hu Jianqiang, Wang Jun, and the Nurture Effect Education Inequality in Rural China and the Rise of Volunteerism Hu Jianqiang and Kindergarten for the Marginalized Community-Based and Socially Engaged Art Education Wang Jun and the Founding of Mentors Academy Creative Activities and Informal Learning for Personal Growth Nurture Effect, Art Education, and Activism in the Making Conclusion: Art and the Right to Bottom-Up Social Changes Bibliography Index