Image and identity: 20th century Chinese art and cinema

What is the course about?

This five-week course will examine watershed moments in 20th century China through the lens of art and cinema, from the New Culture Movement of the 1910s which criticised traditional systems as the country’s downfall to the ‘Root Searching’ movement of the 1980s that sought to reconstruct a Chinese identity grounded in the past. Each week, we will engage with a range of images, artworks and films to explore the socio-political conditions in which they were made. Example case studies include black and white films from the Shanghai ‘Golden Age’; model operas of the Cultural Revolution; Scar cinema of the New Era; experimental artworks in the ‘China/Avant-Garde’ exhibition; and new wave films of the Fifth and Sixth Generation Directors.

What will we cover?

• The relationship between visual culture and politics in 20th Century China

• New Culture Movement and Shanghai Golden Age Cinema

• Early Communist film and propaganda art during the Cultural Revolution

• Experimental Chinese Art

• Chinese new wave cinema in the postsocialist era

• Sixth Generation films and urbanisation

• The internet and new media art.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

· Be aware of key works of Chinese art and cinema throughout the 20th century

· Identify some of the social, political and cultural issues that captured the imagination of Chinese artists and filmmakers during each era

· Understand key historical moments in modern Chinese history through the lens of visual culture.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This course is suitable for all levels.

You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations, handouts and health and safety information and an understanding of how to operate basics of Zoom microphone and camera.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

You will be taught with lecture, slide presentations and will be invited to participate in class discussion. There will be a Google Classroom for the sharing of documents related to the course. There will be light homework such as excerpts of readings and films to watch in advance. You will be sent an invitation to the Google Classroom within a week of the course start date.

This is a live lesson course - sessions are not recorded or available on demand for reasons of copyright, data protection and digital infrastructure.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

You might wish to have something to write with. You might wish to buy some of the books on any reading list given out in class.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

Chinese art at the V&A
Arts of Imperial China: 1600-1800.