Urban Utopia and Contemporary Visual Arts in China – June 2010

Given the speed of development in China it is hardly suprising that the idea of a city constructed in the blink of the eye is central to recent Chinese visual arts.

The instant city is visually represented by miniature models and computerized simulations. The extensive use of architectural modelling -in the media, on the theatre stage, and on the screen – is a symptom of the neoliberal state`s need to reify its vision in idealized form.

In response, some filmmakers have turned to preserving the present condition of cities in images. Others go beyond using new media to propose to propose a post-cinematic and post-spatial understanding of the city.

The Confucius Institute for Scotland is delighted to present a lecture by Professor Yomi Braester, Professor of Comparative Literature and a core member of the the Cinema Studies Program at the University of Washington in Seattle. He has published extensively on film, drama, and fiction in the PRC and Taiwan and is the author of `Witness against History: Literature, Film, and Public Discourse in Twentieth-Century China` (2003) and `Painting the City Red: Chinese Cinema and the Urban Contract` (2010).

LECTURE DETAILS

Urban Utopia and Contemporary Visual Arts in China
Monday 7th June 2010
6.30pm-7.30pm
Ground Floor, Abden House

Followed by a drinks reception

This event is free. To reserve a seat for this talk please email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk or call 0131 662 2180.