International Conference "Unfolding the Coromandel Screen: Visual Mobility, Inscribed Objecthood, and Global Lives"

Onsite and Online Conference
Date: 22–23 November 2024
Venue: Benjamin & Anny Kwok Conference Room, 4/F, Yip Kit Chuen Building, City University of Hong Kong [location map]

During the second half of the seventeenth century, the production of Coromandel screens, also known as kuancai (meaning “carved polychrome”), flourished along China’s southeast coast. These screens became immensely popular both domestically and in European markets, establishing connections between regional artisans, merchants, and prominent European figures, including royalty and nobility. In the last two decades of this century, Coromandel screens emerged as one of China’s most frequently exported commodities, rivaling porcelain and challenging Japanese lacquerware exports. Their significance extends far beyond the common perception of them as merely mass-produced craftwork of inferior quality.

With the generous support of Bei Shan Tang Foundation, the Department of Chinese and History at City University of Hong Kong will host a two-part academic event titled “Unfolding the Coromandel Screen” to celebrate the department’s tenth anniversary. The conference, organized by Lianming Wang (City University of Hong Kong) in collaboration with Mei Mei Rado (Bard Graduate Center, New York), will take place on-site at City University of Hong Kong and via Zoom from 22 to 23 November 2024. It will bring together an international group of art historians, museum curators, conservators, collectors, and global historians. Participants will explore various aspects of the Coromandel screen and its intricate histories, including its interrelations with paintings, prints, decorative arts, palatial and interior designs, global maritime trade, and the fashion industry.

Following the conference, speakers will join a two-day traveling seminar from 24 to 25 November, visiting lacquer and conservation workshops as well as museum collections in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

Keynotes by
Transcultural Treasures: Kuancai (aka Coromandel) Screens in China and Abroad
Jan Stuart, National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C.
The Taste for Coromandel Lacquer in France in the 17th and 18th Centuries: Trade, Reception and Customs
Stéphane Castelluccio, CNRS, Centre André Chastel, Paris

Conference Program
Please click here to download the conference flyer.

Registration
For onsite participation, please register here.
For online participation via Zoom, please register here.

Advisory Board:
May Bo Ching, City University of Hong Kong
Burglind Jungmann, UCLA
Mei Mei Rado, Bard Graduate Center, New York
Anton Schweizer, Kyushu University
Ching-Fei Shih, National Taiwan University
Lianming Wang, City University of Hong Kong
Xiaodong Xu (†), Art Museum of The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Supporting Institutions:
Art Museum of The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Maritime Museum
Lee Shau Kee Library of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Guangdong Provincial Museum
Guangzhou Museum
Chen Clan Ancestral Hall – Guangdong Folk Arts Museum