Many of the changes in the world of Chinese experimental art are related to these national developments. Starting in the 1980s and especially in the 1990s, a large number of experimental artists relocated from the provinces to major urban centers such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, reinventing themselves as independent artists working for international exhibitions and a global art market. Using a wide variety of media, from painting and sculpture to video and photography, China’s experimental artists have explored the dynamics of an emerging “modernity with Chinese characteristics” in a country where the forces of tradition still retain enormous power. By examining these artistic efforts, Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China will contribute to a new understanding of the different ways that China’s artists have come to perceive themselves and their communities on a personal, regional, national, and even global scale.

Photography and video art have become increasingly important means of artistic expression in China. While photography was largely reduced to a propaganda tool during the first thirty years of the People’s Republic, it has gradually developed into an important vehicle of individual expression. Unofficial photography exhibitions began to be mounted in 1979-80, immediately attracting a huge audience.

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