Modernity, as one of the most important concepts in contemporary arts, has always taken on various faces in the discussion of art and philosophy, society and history. From the second half of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War, modernism emerged as a whole social and cultural movement and became an important starting point for shaping global art and culture today. If the cultural and aesthetic issues represented by modernism represent the disillusionment of a Euro-American centered utopian dream, it is now a motif of nostalgia. Modernity has been continuously rewritten and rethought, and every new discussion of modernism and modernity responses to the current socio-political issues and enriched our understanding of contemporaneity.
When Western-centered modernism spread out the world with cultural dynamism, a complex combination of modernization and anti-modernization movements emerged worldwide. Advancements of Western industrialized civilization, symbolized by achievements in modern science and technology, have accelerated the historical process of globalization at an immeasurable rate and reshaped it. As a result, modernity has undergone a profound reorganization due to global political, economic and cultural changes. The discussion on modernity is about redefining the modernity of various artistic phenomena within their modernization processes in different places around the world from the 19th to 20th century. In the process of redefining modernity, the issues of “Pre-modernity”, “Alterative-modernity”, “Multiple-modernity”, and “Parallel-modernity” etc. have been raised. Therefore, the question facing modernity is how to re-examine the arts and cultural creativity on the margin place of Western centered modernization and globalization. It does not only involve exploring conditions of production in colonial society, as well as examining the historical process of another modernity, but it also involves investigating the more detailed conflicts and interactions among various cultures. Under the challenge of globalization in the post-colonial era, the historical contexts of modernity and post-modernity need to be revisited and analyzed.
The anxiety about modernity in contemporary society has continued since the time of Charles Pierre Baudelaire. This anxiety is further exacerbated by scientific and technological progress featuring biological technology and digital transformation. In the era of globalization, what role has modernity played in the development of contemporary art? Is modernity originated from the West still dominant? Or has there been a variety of modernity, or alternative kinds of modernity? Does Chinese culture have its own modernity? What is the relationship between modernity and traditional culture? These questions are of great significance to the writing of art history in the view of globalization and the formation of an independent study from Chinese perspectives.
About the conference
Academic Chair:
Shao Yiyang (China Central Academy of Fine Arts)
James Elkins (Art Institute of Chicago)
David J. Roxburgh (Harvard University)
Éric de Chassey ( Institut National D’Histoire De L’Art)
Time: 31st October-1st November, 2019
Venue: Academic Hall, Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts
Organizer: School of Humanities, CAFA
Co-organizer: Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts
Media Support: CAFA ART INFO
Agenda of conference
| 2019.10.31 Thursday 9:00-20:00
Academic hall, Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts | ||
| Opening | ||
| 9：00 — 9：20 | FAN Di’an, President, Central Academy of Fine Arts | |
| 9：20 — 9：50 | James Elkins, Professor of School of the Art Institute of Chicago | Five Current Strategies for Writing about Modernism |
| Group One
Chair: LaoZhu | ||
| 9：50 — 10：10 | LI Jun, Professor, Dean of School of Humanities, CAFA | Pictures of Tilling and Weaving and the World |
| 10：10 — 10：30 | PENG Feng, Professor & Dean, School of Arts, Peking University | Modernism in China: Too Early and Too Late |
| 10：30 — 10：50 | SHAO Yiyang, Professor, Deputy- Dean of School of Humanities, CAFA | Metapictures & Metamodernity |
| 10：50—11：00
Coffee Break | ||
| Group Two
Chair: PENG Feng | ||
| 11：00 — 11：20 | Sarah E. Fraser， Professor, Institute of East Asian Art History, Center for Asian and Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg Uniersity | Modernity, Politics, and Archaeology: Chinese, Russian, and German early 20th c. Expeditions in Central Asia |
| 11：20 — 11：40 | LaoZhu, Professor of Peking University President of Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art | The Fifth Revolution of Modern Art—— Chinese Contemporary Art after Joseph Beuys/ Andy Warhol |
| 11：40 — 12：00 | WANG Jiajun, Associate Editor, Theoretical Studies In Literature and Art East China Normal University | Icon and Modernity: An Aesthetic Interpretation of Jean-Luc Marion’s thought of Icon |
| 12：00 — 12：20 | ZHANG Peng, Professor, Director of ART RESEARCH, CAFA | The Spirit of Flourishing Dynasty is the Source of Chinese Art Modernity — On Xu Beihong’s Another Thought About Chinese Painting |
| 12：20—14：00 Lunch Time | ||
| Group Three
Chair: GAO Minglu | ||
| 14：00 — 14：20 | WANG Min ‘an, Professor, School of Humanities， Tsinghua University | Modernity and Nature |
| 14：20 — 14：40 | YU Runsheng, Associate Professor, School of Humanities, CAFA | From Bryullov to Ivanov: the End of History Painting and a New Art History |
| 14：40 — 15：00 | WU Xueshan, Professor, School of Humanities, CAFA | Chains and Veins: Railway as Propaganda during the Sino-Japanese War,1931-1945 |
| 15：00 — 15：20 | YANG Zhenyu, Professor, Dean of The Advanced School of Art and Humanities，China Academy of Art | From “West Learning” to “ Modern New Learning”: Liang Qichao and The Intellectual Approaches to Art History |
| 15：20—15：30 Coffee Break | ||
| Group Four Chair: WANG Min ‘an | ||
| 15：30 — 15：50 | Sophia Prinz, Professor, Universität der Künste Berlin | The Practice of Entanglement |
| 16：50 — 16：10 | CHANG Peijie, Lecturer of School of Liberal Arts, Renmin University of China | The Disappearance of Aura and the Generation of Dialectical Images：A Discussion Based on Walter Benjamin’s Concept of “Technology” |
| 16：10 — 16：30 | WEN Tao, Associate Professor of School of Humanities, CAFA | Outside Modernity: LeiShu(类书) and Knowledge Form of Ancient China |
| 16：30 — 16：50 | GAO Minglu, Professor, Department of History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh | The Roots of Modernity |
| 16：50 — 17：20 | Roundtable Discussion Chair: James Elkins Commentater: Sarah E. Fraser | |
| 18：00—20：00 Keynote Lecture Speaker: James Elkins, Professor of School of the Art Institute of Chicago Lecture Topic: Thinking about Different Modernisms Venue: Auditorium of Northern District, CAFA | ||
| 2019.11.1 Friday 9:00-17:30 Academic hall, Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts | ||
| Group Five Chair: ZHANG Jian | ||
| 9：00 — 9：20 | David J. Roxburgh， Professor of Dept. History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University. President for the National Committee on the History of Art (United States) | A Proliferation of Duplicates: New Technologies of the Image in 19th-Century Iran |
| 9：20 — 9：40 | ZHANG Gan, Professor of Department of Art History，Academy of Arts & Design, Director of Institute of contemporary art, Tsinghua University | Rediscover of Modernism |
| 9：40 — 10：00 | ZHAO Yan, Assistant Researcher of ART RESEARCH, CAFA； Editor of World Art | Intrinsic Nonidentity: Rethinking the Surrealist Art Theory and Modernity |
| 10：00 — 10：20 | Éric de Chassey, Professor, Director General of Institut National D’Histoire De L’Art | French Abstract Expressionism |
| 10：20—10：30 Coffee Break | ||
| Group Six Chair: ZHANG Gan | ||
| 10：30 — 10：50 | Timotheus Vermeulen Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo | Metamodernism in Three Case Studies |
| 10：50 — 11：10 | ZHANG Chen, Lecturer of School of Humanities，Central Academy of Fine Arts | Echo of Narcissus：Caravaggio，Meta-painting and Modernity |
| 11：10 — 11：30 | ZHANG Jian, Professor, Librarian Director, The Advanced School of Art and Humanities, China Academy of Art | The Problem of Style: From Diachronic to Synchronic—— Some Remarks on the Debate about Stylistic Histry in the Middle and Late 20th Century |
| 11：30 — 12：00 | Roundtable Discussion Chair: David J. Roxburgh Commentater: Éric de Chassey | |
| 12：00—14：00 Lunch Time | ||
| 14：00-15：30 Keynote Lecture Speaker：Éric de Chassey, Professor, Director General of Institut National D’Histoire De L’Art Lecture Topic：The Death of Painting Venue: Academic hall, Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts | ||
| 15：30—16：00 Coffee Break | ||
| 16：00-17：30 Keynote Lecture Speaker：Timotheus Vermeulen, Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo Lecture Topic：10 theses on metamodernism Venue: Academic hall, Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts | ||
| 2019.11.2 Saturday 18：00-19：30 Keynote Lecture Speaker：David J. Roxburgh，Professor of Dept. History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University. President for the National Committee on the History of Art (United States) Lecture Topic：The Timurid-Ming Embassy of 1419-22 Venue: Lecture Hall, Building 7(First Floor) | ||
Courtesy of the Organizer.
