A performance art movement emerged in 1990s China, centered in the Beijing neighborhood known as the East Village. In reaction to massive changes in the urban landscape and to everyday living, artists put on one-time performances – but they also filmed and photographed each other, creating a new layer of art, says art historian Nancy P. Lin.

“Performance is an ephemeral artform that’s dependent on and mediated through photography and video. These forms triangulate across each other and depend on each other,” said Lin, Klarman Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), who will be an assistant professor of history of art and visual studies starting in Sept. 2023.

“Between Performance and Documentation: Contemporary Photography and Video from China,” a current exhibit at the Johnson Museum curated by Lin and Ellen Avril, chief curator and the Judith H. Stoikov Curator of Asian Art at the Johnson Museum, explores contemporary Chinese art from the mid 1990s to today.

On Nov. 16-17, a lecture, symposium and live performance by artist Lin Yilin will illuminate questions about the complex relationship between performance, photograph and video posed in the exhibition. On Nov. 16, starting at 5 p.m., Lin Yilin will perform in the Johnson Museum’s Appel Lobby. Afterward, Wu Hung of the University of Chicago will offer the Stoikov Lecture on Asian art in the Wing Lecture Room. On Nov. 17, a symposium will be held from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. in the Wing Lecture Room, featuring Lin Yilin and other exhibition artists, as well as scholars from Cornell, the University of Chicago, Washburn University and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.