The Representation and Agency of Artistic Interventions in Community in Mainland China

2021 ◽  
pp. 120633122110467
Author(s):  
Danzhou Li ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
You Wu ◽  
Shuting Zhong

Based on immersive participatory observation of the curatorial practice of the 2019 OCAT exhibition Rural Construction through Art in Shenzhen, we identified two modes of community-based artistic interventions: a cultural “governance/capital” intervention deeply embedded in the social structure and a collective experimental art production intervention dissociated from the social structure. However, both forms of “production art” are essentially “unities of opposites” integrating incorporation and resistance, consistent with the socialist art policy of promoting the flourishing of all types of arts. Though the aesthetic divide between “art for society’s sake” and “art for art’s sake” positions these artistic interventions in different places in society, we argue that the domain of Chinese contemporary art is shifting away from the studio and toward scenes, events, experience, and dialogue. The approach of “the era of mass art” also means that “art-as-resistance” is being legitimized as “art-as-incorporation” in a subtle but unremitting way.

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Fang Yang

In “The Picture of Dorian Gray” Oscar Wilde displays his artistic pursuit on art, life and society. Although he advocates “art for art’s sake”, yet his works could not be isloated from the social morality. In the novel, as Dorian sells his soul to the devil for his eternal beauty in appearance, the portait burdens the change of his ugliness. In some respect, the portait is a moral metaphor of Dorian himself. Basil Hallward, the painter of the protait, can be regarded as an artist metaphor to Wilde himself. Lord Henry Wotton, a famous dandy in the novel, manifests Wilde’s aestheic belief in lifestyle. So by analyzing the three main characters, this paper probes into the aesthetic moral metaphors involved in the novel, and talks about its influence on the modern Chinese aesthetic literature.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 90-97
Author(s):  
Alexis Pauline Gumbs

Ladeedah is an audio novella that takes place in a Black utopic space after “the improvised revolution.” Ladeedah is a tone-deaf, rhythm-lacking Black girl in a world where everyone dances and sings at all times. What is Ladeedah's destiny as a quiet, clumsy genius in a society where movement and sound are the basis of the social structure and the definition of freedom? This excerpt from Ladeedah focuses on Ladeedah's attempts to understand the meaning of revolution from her own perspectives—at home, at school, and in her own mind and body.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 678-700
Author(s):  
V Christides

Based on two important hagiographical works written in Greek, the Martyrdom of St. Arethas and his companions and the Acts of St. Gregentius, the aim of this paper is to continue my preliminary study of the countries around the Red Sea in pre-Islamic times, especially in the sixth century A.D. The most valuable information in the Martyrdom concerns the hazardous voyage of the Ethiopian army from the main port of Adulis across the Red Sea to South Arabia (ca 525 A.D.). This work illuminates aspects of that expedition which do not appear in such detail in any other source. In addition, it describes the ports of the Red Sea in the sixth century, i.e., Klysma, Bereniki, Adulis, etc., corroborating the finds of archaeology and epigraphy. Concerning the controversial Acts of St. Gregentius, the present author has tried to discuss only some vital information reflecting the social structure of South Arabia during its Ethiopian occupation until the Persian conquest of it (ca 525 A.D. – ca 570 A.D.), and attempted to trace the origin of just one law (the treatment of animals) among those supposedly imposed on the Himyarites by the so-called archbishop Gregentius.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 788-832
Author(s):  
Lukas M. Muntingh

Egyptian domination under the 18th and 19th Dynasties deeply influenced political and social life in Syria and Palestine. The correspondence between Egypt and her vassals in Syria and Palestine in the Amarna age, first half of the fourteenth century B.C., preserved for us in the Amarna letters, written in cuneiform on clay tablets discovered in 1887, offer several terms that can shed light on the social structure during the Late Bronze Age. In the social stratification of Syria and Palestine under Egyptian rule according to the Amarna letters, three classes are discernible:1) government officials and military personnel, 2) free people, and 3) half-free people and slaves. In this study, I shall limit myself to the first, the upper class. This article deals with terminology for government officials.


1991 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-317
Author(s):  
Ziaul Haque

Deveiopment planning in India, as in other developing countries, has generally been aimed at fostering an industrially-oriented policy as the engine of economic growth. This one-sided economic development, which results in capital formation, creation of urban elites, and underprivileged social classes of a modern society, has led to distortions in the social structure as a whole. On the contrary, as a result of this uneven economic development, which is narrowly measured in terms of economic growth and capital formation, the fruits of development have gone to the people according to their economic power and position in the social structure: those occupying higher positions benefiting much more than those occupying the lower ones. Thus, development planning has tended to increase inequalities and has sharpened divisive tendencies. Victor S. D'Souza, an eminent Indian sociologist, utilizing the Indian census data of 1961, 1971, and 1981, examines the problem of structural inequality with particular reference to the Indian Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - the two most underprivileged sections of the present Indian society which, according to the census of 1981, comprised 15.75 percent and 7.76 percent of India's population respectively. Theoretically, he takes the concept of development in a broad sense as related to the self-fulfIlment of the individual. The transformation of the unjust social structure, the levelling down of glaring economic and social inequalities, and the concern for the development of the underprivileged are for the author the basic elements of a planned development. This is the theoretical perspective of the first chapter, "Development Planning and Social Transformation".


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 135-146
Author(s):  
Namita Poudel

One of the profound questions that troubled many philosophers is– “Who am I?” where do I come from? ‘Why am I, where I am? Or “How I see myself?” and maybe more technically -What is my subjectivity? How my subjectivity is formed and transformed? My attempt, in this paper, is to look at “I”, and see how it got shaped. To understand self, this paper tries to show, how subjectivity got transformed or persisted over five generations with changing social structure and institutions. In other words, I am trying to explore self-identity. I have analyzed changing subjectivity patterns of family, and its connection with globalization. Moreover, the research tries to show the role of the Meta field in search of subjectivity based on the following research questions; how my ancestor’s subjectivity changed with social fields? Which power forced them to change their citizenship? And how my identity is shaped within the metafield? The methodology of my study is qualitative. Faced to face interview is taken with the oldest member of family and relatives. The finding of my research is the subjectivity of Namita Poudel (Me) is shaped by the meta field, my position, and practices in the social field.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
V. V. Gorshkova ◽  
A. A. Melnikova

The article considers the contradictions and conflicts that are characteristic of modern Russian society. The processes of social disintegration are analyzed and interpreted as a result of fundamental social and economic transformations. The problems of economic inequality are presented in the historical perspective in close connection with the previous stages of Russia's socioeconomic development. Significant polarization of the population is one of the most significant conflict factors in modern society, which leads to an increase in protest moods and may in the long term threaten social upheavals. Nevertheless, dissatisfaction with the socio-economic situation does not lead to ideas of the unification and consolidation of society, but find expression in social conflicts. The emergence and development of social conflicts is influenced by a number of factors: economic, ethnic, religious. One of the most important characteristics of society is its social structure. After the collapse of the USSR, the previous social structure was abolished, and a new social reality was formed in Russia. When considering the stratification structure of society, most attention is paid to the middle class, which is considered the backbone of a stable society. The middle class in Russia is in the stage of formation, it is hardly possible to speak of a complete analogy with the middle class of Western society. The share of middle class in society can be estimated in different ways depending on the methodological approaches used by researchers. An important consequence of the transformation of the social structure was the problem of marginalization, since the dismantling of the old social structure and the slow formation of the new one put the social status and place in the division of labor system of many individuals into question. The sharp impoverishment of representatives of prestigious professions led to a reassessment of their situation, especially for the younger generation. When analyzing the origins of social conflicts in modern Russian society, it is necessary to consider the issue of the attitude of the broad masses of the population to power and national elites. It should be noted that power in Russia historically takes shape around specific leaders and does not have an institutional character. The most significant factor shaping the attitude towards the authorities and the elite in general in Russian society are the economic results of the market reforms that have taken place. Only a small part of the population believes that they won as a result of the changes that have taken place, the natural consequence of which is the population's distrust of the authorities and, in general, political institutions.


2018 ◽  
pp. 13-38
Author(s):  
N. Ceramella

The article considers two versions of D. H. Lawrence’s essay The Theatre: the one which appeared in the English Review in September 1913 and the other one which Lawrence published in his first travel book Twilight in Italy (1916). The latter, considerably revised and expanded, contains a number of new observations and gives a more detailed account of Lawrence’s ideas.Lawrence brings to life the atmosphere inside and outside the theatre in Gargnano, presenting vividly the social structure of this small northern Italian town. He depicts the theatre as a multi-storey stage, combining the interpretation of the plays by Shakespeare, D’Annunzio and Ibsen with psychological portraits of the actors and a presentation of the spectators and their responses to the plays as distinct social groups.Lawrence’s views on the theatre are contextualised by his insights into cinema and its growing popularity.What makes this research original is the fact that it offers a new perspective, aiming to illustrate the social situation inside and outside the theatre whichLawrenceobserved. The author uses the material that has never been published or discussed before such as the handwritten lists of box-holders in Gargnano Theatre, which was offered to Lawrence and his wife Frieda by Mr. Pietro Comboni, and the photographs of the box-panels that decorated the theatre inLawrence’s time.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 184
Author(s):  
Sari Herleni

This article describes about the figure of children world in a short story “Anggrek Rara” written by Ina Inong, by connecting the social structure in the text and in the real life. After analyzing the social structure in the story, it is found that the plot of this story was the progressive plot, the background was from the social fact that came from inner house and outer house, otherwise the central character were Rara and Bunda. By analyzing social structure of text, it was found that a family (home) is the serious and formal environment while outer house is free and non formal. The result of the research showed that the children short story “ Anggrek Rara” was expected to give the figure outlines of the children world.AbstrakPenelitian ini membahas tentang gambaran dunia anak dalam cerita pendek anak “Anggrek Rara” karya Ina Inong dengan menghubungkan struktur sosial teks dalam karya dan struktur sosial teks dengan realitas. Melalui analisis struktur sosial dalam karya terungkap bahwa alur cerita ini merupakan alur lurus, latar terdiri dari fakta sosial yang bersumber dari rumah dan di luar rumah, sedangkan tokoh Rara dan Bunda adalah tokoh sentral. Melalui analisis struktur sosial teks dengan realitas terungkap bahwa keluarga (rumah) merupakan lingkungan yang sifatnya serius dan formal, sedangkan di luar rumah bahkan bersifat bebas dan non formal. Hasil yang diperoleh dari analisis ini menunjukkan bahwa cerita pendek anak “Anggrek Rara” dianggap mampu memberikan garis-garis besar gambaran kehidupan dunia anak.


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