To teachers:
In this Year of the Rat 2020, despite all our anxieties ranging from viral plagues to politicians, from bush fires to climatic catastrophe, art still matters. And the art produced by contemporary artists in China grapples with all the most significant issues of the day. I hope you will find inspiration here in these case studies and suggested learning activities, in artist interviews and extracts of art writing so that you can introduce your students to the extraordinary art emerging from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Year of the Rat has certainly not been an auspicious one thus far, there is no denying, but I hope you will find materials here to assist you in learning about some interesting artists, whether you are learning/teaching from home in isolation or at school.

To students:
In the case studies and other resources here you'll find a wealth of interesting artists and artworks. I hope you enjoy the discovery!

Who should use this site?
Anybody with an interest in cutting-edge Chinese contemporary art! But most especially art students from Years 10 - 12 and their teachers.

Who/what will you find here?
A range of interesting, very diverse, contemporary Chinese artists - from painters to photographers, installation and conceptual artists to sculptors and video artists. The author of the site, Sydney-based art educator, researcher and writer, Luise Guest, has met and interviewed the artists represented here, and has reviewed exhibitions of their work. Some are younger emerging artists, some are very well-established significant figures in the artworld. They represent new ideas about practice. They indicate how the artworld and contemporary art in China is changing.

Who/what will you NOT find here?
Artists such as Ai Weiwei, Yue Minjun, Zhang Xiaogang or Wang Guangyi who are well represented in textbooks, journal articles, the popular press and museum/gallery web sites. They are referenced in the more general Chinese art pages but do not have a separate page for their work. The reason? You can easily look elsewhere to find research source material on those artists. The purpose of this blog is to open up a range of new and interesting artists for students to research and write about.

WHAT will you find here?

• A separate page, accessed by a tab at the top of the home page, for each artist
• Information about each artist's practice
• Extracts of critical writing, feature articles and interviews about each artist
• Links to other useful web sites and sources for further reading and research - these are listed within each artist's page
• Links to video interviews or relevant Youtube clips
• Images of the artists and their works - these are shown with their sources and should not be reproduced without permission
• Questions for student response ranging from fairly simple comprehension questions to more challenging and thought-provoking questions and suggestions for extended responses or essays - teachers and students may work through each question or choose those most appropriate to them - or modify them
• And a big 'what if' question to get you thinking at the end of each artist page

How will the site be kept up to date?

This blog will have new artists - and new questions or activities - added on a regular basis. 
So: watch this space!
You can add comments, suggestions or questions for the author.
Important: all images if reproduced (only for educational purposes) must be credited as they are here in this web site