Nationalism Internationalism: International Exhibition of Chinese Art, 1935

EVENT DESCRIPTION

This presentation focuses on the International Exhibition of Chinese Art (1935) in London, which deployed art for public diplomacy and spoke a modern international language that embodied the rising awareness of national culture as promoted by the League of Nations. While the Republican government lacked the fundamental economic and military infrastructure critical for navigating the modern world, the alternative system of soft power and brand nationalism rooted in culture, tradition, and morality assumed the responsibility of communicating a unified image of China as a modern nation-state to the domestic and global audiences.

Speaker
Dr. Xing Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Art and Design at Nanjing University. She received her Ph.D. degree in Art History, Theory and Criticism from the University of California, San Diego in 2021. She specializes in modern and contemporary Chinese art and visual cultures.

Discussant
Prof. Selina Chui Fun Ho, Assistant Professor and Acting Head at the Department of Visual Studies, Lingnan University of Hong Kong