Launched on AAA’s website in October 2023, the personal archive of Tao Yongbai (b. 1937) documents the career of one of the few female art historians and critics of her generation in China. Through her writing, criticism, and involvement in academia from the late 1970s onwards, Tao pioneered the study of the history of oil painting and women artists in China. Comprising over 1,200 records, the first phase of the archive encompasses texts on debates around women’s art in China during the 1990s; Tao’s notes, interview records, and research references on the history of oil painting; and materials about 1980s Chinese art.
In this talk, AAA Researcher Xie Congyang will introduce the context and organisational structure for the Tao Yongbai Archive, and will discuss, through specific items, how the archive reflects the urgencies, methodologies, and perspectives of Tao’s research and writings throughout different phases of her career.
The presentation is followed by a Q&A.
The event will be held in Mandarin, with English simultaneous interpretation.
Free and open to the public with registration.
Xie Congyang is AAA’s Researcher based in Guangzhou. Since joining AAA in 2015, she has worked on various China-related archives, and leads the research and archive project Documenting Contemporary Art of Northwest China (Lanzhou).
