Triangulating Africa: Contemporary art as a terrain for creating China–Africa connections | Intellect Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art
  4. Volume 9, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 9, Issue 1-2
  • ISSN: 2051-7041
  • E-ISSN: 2051-705X

Abstract

Colonization and race are important issues influencing international contemporary art practice, but related discourse is often focused with Europe or America at one end of a binary dialogue opposing the peripheries and former colonies. Since mid-twentieth century, following the independence of new nation states and events such as the 1955 , there has been an increasing awareness to create new axes of sociopolitical connections. China–Africa relations evolve from this context but remains a topic mostly studied from state-level politics and economics. Recently, artists from the Greater Chinese context have started investigating ways of understanding Africa culturally through their artworks. Pu Yingwei (mainland China), Musquiqui Chihying (Taiwan) and Enoch Cheng (HK) are three young artists whose recent works focus on creating more intimate narratives to construct an understanding of China–Africa relations. China is introduced in the dichotomous mode of discourse, and this new triangulated focus expand the understanding of China–Africa relations by offering more nuanced perspectives.

© 2022 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jcca_00056_1
2022-07-01
2024-04-18
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. A Study in Scarlet: The Re-Origin of Revolutionary Realism ( 2021), Mamoth, London:, 2 October–12 November.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Bao, Hongwei. ( 2020;), ‘ The queer Global South: Transnational video activism between China and Africa. ’, Global Media and China, 5:3, pp. 294–318.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Batchelor, Kathryn. ( 2022;), ‘ Images of “Africa” in China–Africa cooperation. ’, China Information, article first, https://doi.org/10.1177/0920203X221075308. Accessed 25 March 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bodies of Water ( 2021), 13th Shanghai Biennial;, Shanghai:, 17 April–28 July.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Castillo, Roberto. ( 2020;), ‘ “Race” and “racism” in contemporary Africa–China relations research: Approaches, controversies and reflections. ’, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 21:3, pp. 310–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Castillo, Roberto. ( 2021;), ‘ The Han saviour behind the blackface: Racialised and gendered media representations in Africa–China popular geopolitics. ’, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 22:3, pp. 421–39.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Cheng, Enoch. ( 2021;), telephone interview with L. Mo. , 9 April.
  8. ChinAfrica ( 2021;), ‘ About Us. ’, http://www.chinafrica.cn/About_Us/. Accessed 20 November 2021.
  9. Chine Afrique ( 2020), Centre Pompidou;, Paris:, 4 March–18 May.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Galerie Walu ( 2015;), ‘ In memoriam: René DAVID (1928–2015). ’, https://walu.ch/en/in-memoriam-rene-david/. Accessed 23 November 2021.
  11. Han, Xiao, and Webber, Michael. ( 2020;), ‘ From Chinese dam building in Africa to the Belt and Road Initiative: Assembling infrastructure projects and their linkages. ’, Political Geography, 77:March, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2019.102102. Accessed 22 November 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Huang, Kun. ( 2020;), ‘ “Anti-Blackness” in Chinese racial-nationalism: Sex/gender, reproduction, and metaphors of pathology. ’, Positions Politics, 29 June, https://positionspolitics.org/kun-huang-anti-blackness-in-chinese-racial-nationalism-sex-gender-reproduction-and-metaphors-of-pathology/. Accessed 25 March 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. I’ll Be Back: Musquiqui Chihying ( 2018), Ullens Center for Contemporary Art;, Beijing:, 25 August–28 October.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Jeune Afrique ( 2021;), ‘ 100 ans d’histoire entre l’Afrique et la Chine | relations internationales. ’, https://www.jeuneafrique.com/brandcontent/1195500/100-ans-dhistoire-entre-lafrique-et-le-parti-communiste-chinois-lamitie-revolutionnaire/. Accessed 8 July 2021.
  15. Karetzky, Patricia Eichenbaum. ( 2016;), ‘ Contemporary art by Chinese diaspora in a global age. ’, East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, 2:2, pp. 267–85.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Kim, Claire Jean. ( 1999;), ‘ The racial triangulation of Asian Americans. ’, Politics & Society, 27:1, pp. 105–38.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Le Monde and AFP ( 2020;), ‘ Les arcanes du Gabon et de la Françafrique dévoilés par une ancienne ministre d’Omar Bongo. ’, Le Monde, 7 October, https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2020/10/07/les-arcanes-du-gabon-et-de-la-francafrique-devoiles-par-une-ancienne-ministre-d-omar-bongo_6055084_3212.html. Accessed 24 March 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Maravillas, Francis. ( 2007;), ‘ Haunted cosmopolitanisms: Spectres of Chinese art in the diaspora. ’, in J. de Kloet, and E. Jurriens. (eds), Cosmopatriots: On Distant Belongings and Close Encounters, Amsterdam and New York:: Rodopi Press;, pp. 253–82.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Metzger, Sean. ( 2020), The Chinese Atlantic: Seascapes and the Theatricality of Globalization, Bloomington, IN:: Indiana University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Musquiqui Chihying ( 2021;), telephone interview with L. Mo. , 15 April.
  21. Musquiqui Chihying and Pu Yingwei ( 2021;), collective telephone discussion with L. Mo. , 9 October.
  22. Otele, Oscar M.. ( 2020;), ‘ Introduction: China–Africa relations: Interdisciplinary questions and theoretical perspectives. ’, The African Review, 47, pp. 267–84.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Papachristou, Mariam. ( 2021;), ‘ Chinese cultural diplomacy towards Africa. ’, HAPSc Policy Briefs Series, 2:2, pp. 150–56.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Photoethics: Chinafrica ( 2020), Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival;, Xiamen:, 27 November–3 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Pu Yingwei ( 2021;), telephone interview with L. Mo. , 8 April.
  26. Pu Yingwei Archive ( 2021;), ‘ Biography of PuYingwei. ’, http://www.puyingweiarchive.com/uploads/soft/190712/1-1ZG21J302.pdf. Accessed 20 November 2021.
  27. Sarr, Mohamed Mbougar. ( 2019;), ‘ Le Musée des civilisations noires a ouvert ses portes à Dakar. ’, Hommes & Migrations, 1326:3, pp. 170–73.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Schmitz, Cheryl Mei-ting. ( 2021;), ‘ “African song and dance” in China: Between Black mockery and Afro-Asian solidarity. ’, Observations, 5, 21 October, https://doi.org/10.17617/2.3347685. Accessed 25 November 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Simbao, Ruth. ( 2012;), ‘ China–Africa relations: Research approaches. ’, African Arts, 45:2, pp. 1–7.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Sino-Wharf from Chinatown to Red Internationalism ( 2020), OCT Contemporary Art Terminal;, Shenzhen:, 25 July–21 August.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. State Council Information Office (SCIO) ( 2021;), ‘ Xin shidai de zhongfei hezuo’ (‘China–Africa collaboration’s new age). ’, http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-11/26/content_5653540.htm. Accessed 24 March 2022.
  32. Sun, Wanning. ( 2010;), ‘ Motherland calling: China’s rise and diasporic responses. ’, Cinema Journal, 49:3, pp. 126–30.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. There Are Lights that Never Go Out ( 2021), Museum of Contemporary Art;, Taipei:, 27 July–19 September.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Wyatt, Don J.. ( 2017;), ‘ The image of the Black in Chinese art. ’, in D. Bindman. (ed.), The Image of the Black in African and Asian Art, Cambridge, MA:: Belknap Press;, pp. 295–324.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Mo, Lou. ( 2022;), ‘ Triangulating Africa: Contemporary art as a terrain for creating China–Africa connections. ’, Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, 9:1&2, pp. 69–89, https://doi.org/10.1386/jcca_00056_1
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/jcca_00056_1
Loading
Triangulating Africa: Contemporary art as a terrain for creating China–Africa connections
Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 9, 69 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1386/jcca_00056_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jcca_00056_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jcca_00056_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): China–Africa relations; contemporary Chinese art; diaspora; postcolonial; race; triangulation

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error