Ethical Appearances: Literati Strategies in Art and Living by Eric Wear

RAS LECTURE

Tuesday 18^th May, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Mesa-Manifesto 748 Julu Road, 上海巨鹿路748号梅萨餐厅

ERIC WEAR

Ethical appearances – literati strategies in art and living

Over the past several years there has been a growing interest in the Chinese classical heritage, from art collecting to design revivals. In particular, literati art and culture has attracted scholarship and discussion, with extensive web and print documentation. Increasingly, attention has moved from purely historical discussion of scholarly life to aesthetic preferences and the rationales of inner life.

We are now in a position to discuss what kinds of importance literati culture may hold for the present generation and how it may inform cultural and artistic development.

In this talk, Eric Wear will venture an ethical interpretation of literati strategies in  material culture and everyday living. Through literati paintings, calligraphy, objects and environments, I will explore psychological, social and ecological dimensions. He will illustrate this with Ming and Qing materials from the Jiangnan region that is the hinterland of modern Shanghai.

Eric Otto Wear is a historian and critic of art and design, who has worked with contemporary and historical Chinese material, focusing on the creation of value and meaning. From 1989 to 2007 he served as the Associate Head, led the Master’s in Design programme and founded the Innovation and Design Management of the MBA of the Graduate School of Business; of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has worked with museums and galleries on exhibitions, and advised local authorities and developers in China and Taiwan on sustainable cultural preservation. Since 1989 he has been a contributor to a number of art publications and museum catalogues.

A Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and Goldsmiths College, London he completed his doctorate in art history from the University of Hong Kong. He is an Advisor to Hong Kong's Academy of Art, Academic Advisor to the Asia Art Archive, corresponding member and representative in China of the Chambre Nationale des Experts Spécialisés en objets d’art et de collection (France), and member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).

Entrance: RMB 30 (RAS members) and RMB 80 (non-members) those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption, prior to the RAS Lecture. Membership applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.

RSVP: to RAS Enquiry desk

enquiry@royalasiaticsociety.org.cn