Chang Liu présentera une communication intitulée “Young Contemporary Artists in the Pan-Tibetan Region and Their Deconstructed Visualization: Disenchantment, Normalization and New Trend under the Context of “Post-Tibetan Fever” in China”
Chinese attitude towards Tibet has been continuously remodelled and reforged. Since the 1980s, we have seen a generalized "Tibetan fever" (Bianchi 2014), which became extremely influential in the popular culture in China. However, with the popularization of Tibetan Buddhism in mainland China and the expansion of social media since the twenty-first century, the curiosity that directly stimulates such as tourism and publication around this phenomenon has been significantly changed and lessened in China.
In Tibetan contemporary art world, galleries and painters with a shangri-la-ized tendency who were once targeted by customers from both the West and large Chinese cities are losing their charm. In other words, Chinese interest in Tibet tends to be more sophisticated, syncretic, and involved. Contemporary Tibetan art is on his way being disillusioned, normalized, and presented more objectively these days. The changing external environment poses new challenges to young Tibetan artists. More than that, with the political and financial limitations, as well as the constantly changing taste of collectors, the living space for young artists is being further unsettled.
This paper hence examines a crucial question of the interaction between the contemporary art market and young Tibetan artists: under the context of the post-Tibetan fever in China, how those young artists in the Pan-Tibetan region respond to new challenges, actively engage in the discussion concerning the preservation of traditions versus the innovation of Tibetan identity (Kolås, Thowsen 2005), and ultimately gain a place in the world of contemporary art.
Chang LIU is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology of Art with a specialization in Tibetan contemporary art at École Pratique des Hautes Études - Université PSL (EPHE-PSL, CRCAO). Her doctoral thesis, built upon the fieldwork in Lhasa since 2019, concentrates on the community of young contemporary artists from Tibet and their practice within the context of “Post-Tibetan Fever” in China. Chang’s research interests include the art market, contemporary expression, and the innovation of Tibetan identity through artwork.
