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A GENTLEMAN AND ATOSCHOLAR ART
HOW THE CLASSICAL LITERATI CONTINUE SHAPE CONTEMPORARY
ARVIN MAHANTA
WHEN IT COMES TO EXPLAINING THEIR WORK,
we’ve lost track of the number of times artists
in China have responded with vague notions
of venerating the ancient masters, and
reaching back into China’s glorious history
through their art. And who can blame them?
For artists who want to get on with their work
without ruffling any feathers, it’s an easy, and
often uncontroversial line to take. This is the
default position for those who want a quiet
life. Chinese tradition as something to be
revered, not questioned.
t
his kind of explanation takes nothing
from the works themselves. Chinese
art has a rich and diverse history that
is unquestionably inspiring and fascinating. But
in terms of a concept, it can often come across
as pretty superficial - a retreat into the past that
doesn’t challenge or comment on the present.
Luckily, there are artists who are willing to
explore the Chinese artistic tradition with a more
inquisitive eye. Currently, Art+ Shanghai and OV
Gallery are simultaneously holding exhibitions that
have challenged artists from China and abroad to
respond to this tradition. The results are two shows
that are hugely engaging, in very different ways.
? Before we go further, a brief history lesson.
Back in the days when everyone in Europe was
squabbling over the Iron Throne (Is this right?
History was never my strong spot - Ed.), China
was ruled by Emperors. The Emperor had absolute
authority, but with China being such a massive
place, an immense bureaucratic infrastructure
was needed to enforce imperial edicts throughout
the empire. The Scholar-Official, or literati class
were the people who did the Emperor’s bidding
at local level.
? This meant that at a time when Europe was
dominated by hereditary noble families such as
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the Starks and Lannisters (still not sure about this
- Ed.), the Chinese administrative system was far
more meritocratic, in theory at least. The gateway
to officialdom lay in years of devoted study of the
Confucian classics, culminating in the dreaded civil
service exams which, whilst being outrageously
difficult, were ostensibly open to anyone. The
idea was that if an official was versed in Confucian
teachings, they would cultivate a high moral
character and would in turn govern righteously.
Beyond governance, the Scholar-Official was
expected to become proficient in the Four Arts:
qin (the musical instrument), qi (best known
today as Go, the strategy game) shu (Calligraphy)
and hua (Painting). So, far beyond being a set of
pen-pushing jobsworths, the literati class played
a huge role in shaping Chinese culture, in all its
forms, throughout the Dynastic ages.
? It’s their artistic output that is being revisited
right now in Shanghai’s galleries.
? ‘This is the fourth instalment of Learning from
the Literati,’ says Rebecca Catching, owner of
OV Gallery and curator of the current exhibition.
‘In the past few years there has been a general
push in Chinese society towards rediscovering
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