• 
• 
• 
• 
  • Forthcoming
  • Recent
• 
• 

48 Charles Street,
London W1J 5EN
info@strategicdialogue.org Tel: +44 (0) 20 7493 9333
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7493 4909

Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Chinese Studies

Wu Hung

9 - 17 May 2012
University of Cambridge

Professor Wu Hung is Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor in Art History and East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago and was appointed the inaugural Humanitas Visiting Professor in Chinese Studies for 2011-12.

Professor Wu spoke on ‘contemporaneity’ in present-day China, delivering three lectures and participating in a colloquium, all on the topic of ‘Reading Absence in Chinese Art and Material Culture’. The three lectures ranged from the fifth century BC until the present day, and looked at different ways in which artists from China inscribed absence in their artworks. Professor Wu led the audience through complex material with grace, insight and humour, in an argument that ranged over the centuries and over different art forms, but maintained a clear trajectory.

The first lecture on ‘Absence and Subjectivity’ focused on the treatment of largely material culture - especially on mirrors and pillows- where the absence of the body is part of the object’s conceptualisation and display. The second on ‘Absence and Memory’ looked at mainly seventeenth-century paintings and the use of ghostly figures, blank steles, and empty landscapes. The final lecture, ‘Demolition Projects: Absence as Contemporaneity’, focused on the avant-garde art of the 1980s and 1990s in Beijing and its engagement with tradition and particularly with architectural destruction.

In the concluding symposium, Professor Wu was joined by other prominent experts in the field: Professor Craig Clunas, History of Art, University of Oxford, Alfeda Murck, an independent scholar from Beijing, Dr Adam Chau, Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Dr Joseph McDermott, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge, Dr Shane McCausland, History of Chinese Art, SOAS, and Professor Tim Barrett, East Asian History and Research, SOAS. Each of the speakers made a valuable contribution on the general theme of the lecture series. The discussion was extended, and the event ended with a guided tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition on Chinese mortuary art.

To view other films of Professor Wu's lectures, visit ISD's YouTube Channel.

View photos on ISD's Flickr Channel.

Click here to view the flyer for the series. Click here to learn about the programme of events.

The Humanitas Chair in Chinese Studies has been made possible by the generous support of Sir David Tang.