The body of the archive: Chineseness at the Venice Biennale (1993–2005)

Abstract

This article examines the function of the Venice Biennale as an ‘archive’ for documenting diasporic Chineseness: establishing a body of work by the Zhongguo ren gongtong ti ‘community of Chinese’ during the period of the 1990s to the mid-2000s when Chinese states were first included in the Biennale roster. The difference between cultural and national identity can be explored through the statist distinctions of the island-nation of Taiwan, the special administrative region of Hong Kong, and the People’s Republic of China represented at the exposition. The artists selected for the case studies of this article, Lee Ming-sheng, Lin Shu-min, Wu Mali, Stanley Wong, Ho Siu Kee, Zhang Huan and Cai Guo-qiang, have adopted the conceptual medium that showcases the body as the subject and/or object of the work of art – the medium contributes to the understanding of the human subject that Chineseness ultimately represents. The Biennale becomes a theoretical frame for contextualizing these representative works, contributing to a historiographic perspective for examining their inaugural moment. Ultimately, the exposition functions as an empirical stage for the analysis of the emergence of Chineseness in the global context for contemporary art.

A comparative study of the influence of political systems on the art markets of East Asia and China

“…It is a form of ethnocultural nationalism, with allowances made for regional differentiation expressed through local crafts and tradition, the intention of which is to impose Chinese culture onto territories that have a history of engagement with China[8]. The recent historical origins of this ambition can be found in ideas around the early twentieth-century concept of the community of Chinese ( Zhongguo ren gongtong ti, 中国人共同体), which Jane Chin Davidson (2016) suggested affects the people at the outer rim of China’s national borders. Macao, Hong and Taiwan as well as Xinjiang come under this broad vision.…”