China Today: Society and the Individual

Asia Society Northern California and the Asian Art Museum are pleased to host a panel series to complement the Museum’s newest exhibition, 28 Chinese (Jun. 5-Aug. 16). The culmination of Rubell family’s decade-long exploration and travels to studios across China, the exhibition presents 48 artworks from 28 contemporary Chinese artists.

The scale of change in China has been staggering. Starting in 1980, over 250 million people had moved from the countryside into China’s cities over a span of two decades. Its urban population had exploded from just 20 percent in 1980 to over 50 percent today – a level of urban increase that took over 120 years in Britain and 40 years in the United States. “China Today: Society and the Individual” engages in a deeper conversation about the social context from which the art displayed in 28 Chinese emerge. We ask: What does it feel like to live through such seismic social changes? Do rapid urbanization and marketization affect one’s sense of self in relationship to one’s family, kin, and even the nation? In this hyper-globalized era, how does one's sense of being “Chinese” get impacted, if at all? 

This program is part two of a two-part series of events organized in partnership with the Asian Art Museum. Part one, 28 Chinese: Chinese Art Now was held on June 11, 2015 at the Asian Art Musuem. 

Speakers:

Eric Fish, Asia Society Content Producer and Author of China's Millennials

Jeremy Goldkorn, Founder and Director of Danwei.com and founding co-host of Sinica podcast

Lisa Rofel, (moderator) Professor of Anthropology, University of Santa Cruz and author of Desiring China

Sasha Welland, Professor of Anthropology and Gender, Women & Sexuality, University of Washington

Xiao Qiang, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of China Digital Times and former MacArthur Fellow 

Program Agenda:

1:00 - 1:30 pm: Registration

1:30 - 3:00 pm: Panel Discussion and Q&A

3:00 - 3:30 pm: Networking