'This edited volume provides a multifaceted investigation of the dynamic interrelations between visual arts and urbanization in contemporary Mainland China with a focus on unseen representations and urban interventions brought about by the transformations of the urban space and the various problems associated with it. Through a wide range of illuminating case studies, the authors demonstrate how innovative artistic and creative practices initiated by various stakeholders not only raise critical awareness on socio-political issues of Chinese urbanization but also actively reshape the urban living spaces. The formation of new collaborations, agencies, aesthetics and cultural production sites facilitate diverse forms of cultural activism as they challenge the dominant ways of interpreting social changes and encourage civic participation in the production of alternative meanings in and of the city. Their significance lies in their potential to question current values and power structures as well as to foster new subjectivities for disparate individuals and social groups.' - from the publisher

Alternative title

Asian Cities Series

Access level

Onsite

Location code
REF.VAM3
Language

English

Publication/Creation date

2018

No of pages

323

ISBN / ISSN

9789462982239

No of copies

1

Content type

anthology

Chapter headings

Engagement with the Urban: Visual Arts as a Form of Cultural Activism in Contemporary China

- Minna VALJAKKA, Meiqin WANG

Part I: Representations

1 From Sidewalk Realism to Spectral Romance: Yang Lina's Beijing and Beyond

- Zhen ZHANG

2 Urban History from Below: The Artworks of Zhang Dali, Jin Feng and Dai Guangyu

- Maurizio MARINELLI

3 The Transient City: Urban Transformation in Chinese Contemporary Photography

- JIANG Jiehong Joshua, 姜節泓

4 Shadow of the Spectacular: Photographing Social Control and Inequality in Urban China

- Meiqin WANG

5 China Dreaming: Representing the Perfect Present, Anticipating the Rosy Future

- Stefan LANDSBERGER

Part II: Urban Interventions

6 Urban Insertion as Artistic Strategy: The Big Tail Elephant Working Group in 1990s Guangzhou

- Nancy P. LIN

7 Cao Fei's 'Magical Metropolises'

- Chris BERRY

 8 Relocating Further or Standing Ground? Unofficial Artists and Independent Film-makers in the Beijing Periphery

- Judith PERNIN

 9 Out of Service: Migrant Workers and Public Space in Beijing

- Elizabeth PARKE

 10 Translocal Site-Responsiveness of Urban Creativity in Mainland China

- Minna VALJAKKA

Visual Arts, Representations, and Interventions in Contemporary China: Urbanized Interface
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Visual Arts, Representations and Interventions in Contemporary China: Urbanized Interface