The "legitimate" process: four exhibition modes of contemporary Chinese art in the 1990s

Ph.D.Taking the China Avant-Garde Exhibition in 1989 as a starting point, and the Post Cold War era and the globalization process as historical background, this thesis focuses on the influential exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art that occurred during the period from 1990 to 2000. By conducting studies of archival materials (including photos, documents, and correspondences), secondary materials and doing interviews, this thesis focuses on restoring the historical contexts and further re-examines the study and interpretation of the exhibitions on different levels. As the research objects, the exhibitions are classified into four modes in this thesis: 1) the overseas exhibitions of "the exiles" in the early 1990s; 2) overseas grand exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art from 1993 onwards; 3) the exhibition curated by domestic art critics/curators at home; and 4) domestic artist-organized exhibitions.The introductory chapter analyzes the domestic and international environment of contemporary Chinese art in the 1990s, as well as the transformation and divergences of the Chinese intellectual realm after 1989. To a certain extent, contemporary Chinese art circles have shared the views of the intellectual realm. It also explains the classification basis of the four exhibition modes. The first chapter reviews the major debates and trends in art criticism in the 1990s China that closely related to the curatorial concepts and methods of the Chinese curators and artists, and the exhibition modes as mentioned above are discussed in the following four chapters respectively. By analyzing the curatorial concepts, technical issues, forms, features, and impact of these exhibitions, the author investigates the process that contemporary Chinese art obtaining the partially "legitimate" status in China, as well as demonstrates both conflicting and collaborative relationships when contemporary Chinese art interacting with the western art system, the domestic official art system, and the market economy. Thus, this thesis outlines the complexities and multiple layers embedded in contemporary Chinese art and curatorial practices.以1989 年的「中國現代藝術大展」作為歷史起點，以1980 年代末開始的後冷戰時代和逐步深入的全球化進程作為歷史背景，本論文將研究視角集中於發生在1990-2000 年間，頗具影響力的中國當代藝術展覽。通過對第一手的文獻、檔案材料（包括照片、文件和通信等）、二手材料及訪談材料的爬梳，旨在重建這些展覽的歷史語境，並在多個層面上進一步重新審視對這些展覽個案的既有研究和解讀。本論文將研究涉及的展覽個案分為四種模式進行討論：1）1990 年代早期，移居海外的藝術工作者所策劃的「流亡」展覽；2）從1993 年起，發生在中國大陸以外的大型中國當代藝術群展；3）1989 年後，留在中國大陸工作的藝術評論家/策展人在國內策劃的展覽；4）1989 年後，由留在中國大陸工作的中國藝術家在國內自我組織的展覽。本論文的緒論部分首先介紹了1990 年代的中國當代藝術所處的國內與國際環境，以及1989 年後中國知識界的轉型與分歧。在特定的學術與社會議題--如後殖民主義理論的運用與對新自由主義經濟的樂觀看法上，中國當代藝術界與知識界分享著近似的觀點與討論成果，基於這一理論背景，緒論的後半部分闡述了本論文關於四種展覽模式的分類依據。本論文的第一章將視角切回至中國當代藝術的批評寫作領域，回顧並分析了1990 年代與中國策展人和藝術家的策展理念、方法論密切相關的主要理論傾向與爭鳴。論文的以下四章則分別討論了上述的四種展覽模式。通過對這些展覽的策展理念、技術問題、形式、特點和影響的分析，本論文探討了1990 年代的中國當代藝術在逐步獲得其部分「合法化」狀態的進程，以及中國當代藝術與西方藝術體制、國內官方藝術體制和市場經濟產生互動時，在衝突中內蘊著合作的交錯關係。以此，本論文以一種細節豐富的整體性視角呈現出中國當代藝術及其策展實踐的複雜肌理，而這些複雜肌理所具備的影響力亦潤物無聲地綿延在今日的藝術與策展實踐中。Wu, Mo.Thesis Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2019.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-221).Abstracts also in Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on 08, January, 2021)