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.
Click here for the Paper Abstracts and Speaker Bios.

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

During the conference, the participants will visit the special exhibition at Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, curated by Dr. Libby Chan.
Location: 18/F, Lau Ming Wai Academic Building, Tat Chee Avenue, City University of Hong Kong

Might and Magnificence: Ceremonial Arms and Armour across Cultures

This exhibition features over 180 exhibits of important private collections including Mengdiexuan and local museums at the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, City University of Hong Kong. The importance of ceremonial arms and armour from the regions examined in this exhibition, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus, West Asia, Asia and Southeast Asia—goes beyond their societal and cultural uses. Collectively, these objects demonstrate that, despite their regional distinctions, they also bear commonalities. They influenced one another in production, design, and decoration through shared histories and heritage, cross-cultural exchanges, travelling craftsmen, trade, maritime networks, the spread of doctrines such as Islam, and, of course, war. And as this vast web of connections grew to include the West, these works continued to inspire and captivate, leading to new legacies, traditions, and creations.

See more information on: https://www.cityu.edu.hk/bg/

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