Podcasts
Amy Gogarty Ceramist, Independent Writer. Vancouver, BC. Canada.
This podcast is intended for educational use only.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Europe embarked on a love affair with things Chinese. Europe nurtured its own vision of the East, particularly China, as a world of fantasy, exoticism, orderliness and delight. Numerous historians have explored and deconstructed this myth of orient that so captivated the visual arts in that period.
In the 20th century, potters flocked to Japan, seeking authenticity deriving from a thousand-year old tradition as promoted by Bernard Leach and others. While this legacy spawned ambivalence, pilgrimage to the East remains a significant rite of passage for many Western ceramists, as witnessed by frequent anecdotal accounts in journals and conferences. What have been less explored are contradictory issues of ethics, politics and culture that govern such exchanges in a period of extreme political, social, and economic change. Given the rapidly evolving relationship between China and the developed world, there is some urgency to analyzing dangers inherent in an uncontested "new orientalism."
I propose to examine several exchange programs directed towards Western ceramists, focusing on the romantic vision of China presented in the literature. Interviewing a number of ceramists who have spent significant--often career altering--time in China, notably Jingdezhen, I will analyze artists' reasons for going, expectations and responses to the experience. While acknowledging the power and benefit of these experiences, I will propose a framework for considering ethics and power relationships inherent in cultural exchange. This is new research for me; my paper will constitute a preliminary report to generate further dialogue.
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A travers une série d'entrevue auprès de céramists ayant fait des séjours en Chine, l'auteure propose une structure pour analyser les relations de pouvoir intrinsèques à ces échanges artistiques ainsi qu'aux échanges culturels en general.