Art in focus Traditions and transformations in Chinese porcelain

Learn about the history of porcelain and discover the work of Chinese contemporary artists Liu Jianhua, Liu Xi, Ah Xian and Geng Xue in this lecture by Luise Guest. 

Ah Xian (also known as Liu Jixian) will join Guest in conversation after the lecture. 

Considered to be the world’s first global ‘brand’, porcelain travelled from the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen via the Silk Road and ocean trade routes across the world, influencing production in the Middle East and Europe. Now, as a contemporary art medium, it is still encoded with Chinese traditions of visual and material culture.

The four artists from two generations who will feature in this lecture have transformed the possibilities of porcelain as a medium, with work ranging from body casts to intricate figures animated in video and subversive feminist installations.

Dr Luise Guest is a writer, researcher and curator. Her writing about Chinese contemporary art has been widely published in print and online platforms, including The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, The Journal of Chinese Contemporary Art, Art Monthly Australasia, Artist Profile, Randian and Yishu Journal, and she is the author of the book Half the sky: conversations with women artists in China.