Chinese whispers

This fascinating look at the Sigg and M+ Sigg Collections, one of the largest, most comprehensive and important collection of contemporary Chinese art in the world, provides the perfect springboard to explore the role of cultural identity in today’s global art world. Spanning forty years and bringing together works by artists such as Ai Weiwei, Cao Fei, and Fang Lijun, this volume follows the development of contemporary art in China in the new millennium. Focusing on recent acquisitions of the Sigg and M+ Sigg Collections, the book examines them through the prism of cultural globalization and cultural homogeneity. For the younger generation of artists presented in this book, a global art market and global network are part of the norm and their work reflects these conditions. At the same time, Chinese art is now an established entity in contemporary art, and many Chinese artists are exploring what is specifically "Chinese" in their work and turning to the traditions of the past. This groundbreaking volume unfolds a new panorama of Chinese art and assesses how attitudes toward Chinese contemporary art have evolved.