05.12.2024Ink Culture Without Ink

Zurich Lectures in East Asian Art History

December 11, 2024 18:15–19:45

ABSTRACT

In the New Ink Movement, there is a shift in the performativity of ink art particularly since 2000, as global networks and exposure at international biennales make intermediality and performativity powerful methods to pursue new art directions. These artists explore new directions with ink in experimental styles and formats. When we think of ink art, the role of ink seems central. That is, it seems obvious that when we talk of “Ink Art,” “ink” would be a necessary feature or ingredient. Yet, it is possible to have ink art without ink. Artists who engage with the long tradition of ink culture and also explore new references in the medium include Xu Bing, Song Dong, Qiu Zhijie, Yang Jiechang, Liu Jianhua, Chen Qi, among others.

This lecture will explore some of China's most experimental and thoughtful artists who are pushing the boundaries of tradition while maintaining reference to the long history of ink and its expressive importance.

Prof. Dr. Sarah E. Fraser is Lehrstuhlinhaberin (Chair Professor) and Director, Institute of East Asian Art History (IKO), Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies, Ruprecht-Karls- Universität Heidelberg. Her research and digital humanities projects include Buddhist and photographic topics focused on northwest China, Inner Asia, and 20th century wartime archaeology, and artistic practice. Her award- winning study on artistic practice in medieval Dunhuang Performing the Visual: The Practice of Buddhist Wall Painting in China and Central Asia, 618 –960 (Stanford University Press, 2004), will be published in Chinese this fall by Peking University Press. Prof. Fraser’s research extends to the 21st century; in 2020 she co- edited a collection of essays on contemporary experimental ink, Xu Bing: After the Book from the Sky (Singapore: Springer, 2020).

https://www.khist.uzh.ch/de/chairs/ostasien/Aktuelles/Zurich-Lectures-in-East-Asian-Art-History.html