China Dream—Another Flow of Chinese Modern Art

The introduction of Chinese art to Japan has been made mainly through antiquities from before Qing Dynasty.  In recent years, Chinese contemporary artists have also become distinct in the international art scene, drawing much attention of Japanese audience.  Against such backdrop, this exhibition—the first of its kind in Japan—will highlight one of the flows of Chinese modern art that has never been discussed and explored before, by taking a broad perspective that incorporates Chinese popular visual culture in its scope.

To be more specific, the works in the exhibition range from paintings which were produced in the 18^th century for the Westerners, China Trade Paintings (paintings which were made to be exported to the West in the early 19^th century), the commercial posters and their original drawings made in Shanghai and Hong Kong which carried over the techniques from the former, and the New Year Paintings which was used as a propaganda tool after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.  These works will shed light upon a flow of modern art that aligns with the context of China.  At the same time, the exhibition seeks to address an issue of modernity that is common throughout Asia: how artworks become inseparably linked with the gazes of Westerners, urbanites, and politicians, who promoted modernization, and undergo a process of refinement through contacts to the exoticism, commercialism and politics of the time.

This large-scale exhibition is held to commemorate the five year anniversary of the museum, and it will embody and represent the unique approach taken by the museum which makes no differentiation between the so-called fine, popular, and folk art in its acquisition and exhibition policy.