Transcultural curation and the post-COVID world

Abstract

New and complex forms of entanglements and power dynamics have taken place via a transcultural curation ethos of Chinese contemporary art in recent decades – the frictions of which have amplified during pandemic times. This Special Issue of the Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art (JCCA) focuses on curatorial research and debates on the transcultural and the post-COVID world in China and beyond. The editorial sets out the key conceptual framework for assessing the significance of transcultural curation and Chinese contemporary art, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The editorial unpacks key concepts and ideas such as transculturation as theory, method and practice; interrogates the processes and challenges of curating Chinese contemporary art in a transcultural context and the post-COVID world; and maps the issue content and structure. The Special Issue invocation to transcultural curation in a post-COVID world serves as a provocation to think carefully about the connections between past, present and future, and what continues and what is new for curatorial imaginaries.