Visual arts: imagining a shanzhai city in twenty-first century China

Since 1978, China has experienced an unprecedented urban and economic growth under the central government's imperative to become a global power. Whereas the central government aimed to showcase its success through ambitious infrastructure projects, distinctive skylines, and spectacular waterfronts, local officials pursued this national goal through the construction of copycats, gated communities, and theme parks and towns. From miniature Eiffel Towers and extravagant residential units to entire themed villages, local authorities and real estate developers have integrated local and global milieus as a quick-fix to upgrade the urban experience and satisfy the taste of the Chinese middle class. Despite the extensive literature in the fields of architecture, urban and social studies, the role of visual arts in the analysis of this unique urban practice has not been explored yet. Hence, this article fulfils the gap by investigating what I refer to as shanzhai (copycats) places in Mainland China through their second-hand representations in the contemporary artworks by Xiang Liqing, Zhang Peili, Hu Jieming, and Yang Yuanyuan. Through qualitative, empirical visual analysis, fieldwork and semi-structured interviews with selected artists, I explore the overlaps between visual arts and these urban phenomena to identify the dynamics and urban actors involved in space-making and suggest that private estates, copycats, and theme parks and towns do not oppose the official narrative; rather, they are localised interpretations of the national dream. Against the dominant practice of building spectacular cities, this article explores how the city could be envisioned and reproduced in the future through the selected artistic practices

Asthma: Differential Diagnosis and Comorbidities

Childhood asthma remains a multifactorial disease with heterogeneous clinical phenotype and complex genetic inheritance. The primary aim of asthma management is to achieve control of symptoms, in order to reduce the risk of future exacerbations and progressive loss of lung function, which results especially challenging in patients with difficult asthma. When asthma does not respond to maintenance treatment, firstly, the correct diagnosis needs to be confirmed and other diagnosis, such as cystic fibrosis, primary ciliary dyskinesia, immunodeficiency conditions or airway and vascular malformations need to be excluded. If control remains poor after diagnostic confirmation, detailed assessments of the reasons for asthma being difficult-to-control are needed. Moreover, all possible risk factors or comorbidities (gastroesophageal reflux, rhinosinusitis, dysfunctional breathing and/or vocal cord dysfunction, obstructive sleep apnea and obesity) should be investigated. At the same time, the possible reasons for poor symptom control need to be find in all modifiable factors which need to be carefully assessed. Non-adherence to medication or inadequate inhalation technique, persistent environmental exposures and psychosocial factors are, currently, recognized as the more common modifiable factors. Based on these premises, investigation and management of asthma require specialist multidisciplinary expertise and a systematic approach to characterizing patients' asthma phenotypes and delivering individualized care. Moreover, since early wheezers are at higher risk of developing asthma, we speculate that precocious interventions aimed at early diagnosis and prevention of modifiable factors might affect the age at onset of wheezing, reduce the prevalence of persistent later asthma and determine long term benefits for lung health

Artistic and spatial mobility in China’s urban villages

This chapter investigates the socio-spatial mobility between city and countryside in China, specifically concentrating on urban villages (城中村 chengzhong cun), through the lens of contemporary artistic practices. As the results of China’s transformations since 1978, urban villages are informal settlements widely looked down by central and local governments due to their irregularity and transience. Building upon the literature in the fields of social, urban, and geography studies, the author deploy visual arts as the framework to examine the mobility inherent within China’s urban villages. Through the qualitative, empirical, visual analysis of contemporary artistic practices by Weng Fen, Cao Fei, Zhu Fadong, Jiu Society, Handshake 302 and Xisan Film Studio, as well as interviews and online exchanges with selected artists, the author argues that the representations of mobility in Chinese urban villages are ambivalent: VICs and villagers are simultaneously depicted as invisible, and still, whilst being creative, and resourceful. Overall, this chapters asserts the significance of visual arts and, specifically, participatory and collaborative practices, which can widen the array of representations of urban villages and rethink the dynamics between city centres and urban villages

Urban Imaginaries: Contemporary art and urban transformations in China since 2001

This interdisciplinary and discursive PhD thesis investigates how urban aesthetics and imaginaries can actively grasp, shape, and foresee urban space-making in Mainland China since 2001. After four decades of rapid urban and economic development, the pace and scale of China’s growth have contributed to the emergence of a thriving urban aesthetics. Whereas artists have produced multiple representations and imaginings of urban space and perhaps even encouraged the rise of a more conscious civil society, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has fostered one official narrative, the China Dream. Although this dominant narrative has come to shape urban space and the whole of China, this thesis analyses visual arts and a host of different practices, including real estate billboards, and architectural projects, to identify different urban actors and imaginaries in China. Artists’ urban experiences and re-imaginings, juxtaposed to top-down urban planning and architectural practices, can articulate the complexities behind space-making and point towards more inclusive and sustainable urban visions. This research collates together fieldnotes, literary sources, interviews with artists and other experts in the field, as well as online primary and secondary data. This study is situated across China’s five major metropolises, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chongqing. Each chapter is dedicated to one aspect of the China Dream, respectively focussing on an internationally strong, socially fair, ecological, and culturally rich China. Overall, this PhD thesis concludes that there are bilateral interlinkages between visual arts and space-making that are regulated by the everchanging dynamics between artists and state-power

Water calligraphy: A living aesthetics in China’s south-western cities

This article examines the popular practice of water calligraphy (dishu) across Changsha, Guiyang and Chongqing to demonstrate its aesthetic potential. Specifically, it suggests that dishu can be interpreted as a new expression of calligraphy and an exemplary case of living aesthetics. To demonstrate this, this article discusses the author’s on-site observations and conversations with water calligraphers alongside the longstanding aesthetic principles of traditional calligraphy and the experimental works by Wang Dongling (b. 1945) and Song Dong (b. 1966). Moreover, by adopting a socio-geographical and historical lens, it views water calligraphy as a living, familiar and slow practice against China’s spectacular and fast urban rhythms. Overall, this article demonstrates that water calligraphy can contribute to the discourse of living aesthetics by favouring sensual encounters within the familiar, collective and slow-paced everyday. Last, this article can contribute to shaping a new aesthetic paradigm that favours the living in a non-western context

Urban Imaginaries: Contemporary art and urban transformations in China since 2001

This interdisciplinary and discursive PhD thesis investigates how urban aesthetics and imaginaries can actively grasp, shape, and foresee urban space-making in Mainland China since 2001. After four decades of rapid urban and economic development, the pace and scale of China’s growth have contributed to the emergence of a thriving urban aesthetics. Whereas artists have produced multiple representations and imaginings of urban space and perhaps even encouraged the rise of a more conscious civil society, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has fostered one official narrative, the China Dream. Although this dominant narrative has come to shape urban space and the whole of China, this thesis analyses visual arts and a host of different practices, including real estate billboards, and architectural projects, to identify different urban actors and imaginaries in China. Artists’ urban experiences and re-imaginings, juxtaposed to top-down urban planning and architectural practices, can articulate the complexities behind space-making and point towards more inclusive and sustainable urban visions. This research collates together fieldnotes, literary sources, interviews with artists and other experts in the field, as well as online primary and secondary data. This study is situated across China’s five major metropolises, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chongqing. Each chapter is dedicated to one aspect of the China Dream, respectively focussing on an internationally strong, socially fair, ecological, and culturally rich China. Overall, this PhD thesis concludes that there are bilateral interlinkages between visual arts and space-making that are regulated by the everchanging dynamics between artists and state-power

From Erasure to Engagement: Visual arts and migrant workers in contemporary China

Since 1978, Mainland China has transformed cities into attractive branding engines to satisfy political and economic agendas at an unprecedented speed and scale. However, what is often concealed is that China’s urban growth has been achieved thanks to the invaluable efforts of migrant workers. Treated as undesirable urban aspects and erased from the city due to their rural origins and low education, migrants’ labour has been crucial to build new cities and infrastructure. To shed light on these social dynamics, I investigate the representation of migrant workers through visual arts. Informed by semi-structured interviews with contemporary artists and visual analysis, this article offers an insight into the official narrative and the socio-spatial inequalities brought upon by urbanisation. Lastly, it contributes to the contemporary visual art discourse, outlining different representational and creative strategies from erasure to socially engaged works which evoke migrant workers’ social and transformative potential

From Erasure to Engagement: Visual arts and migrant workers in contemporary China

Since 1978, Mainland China has transformed cities into attractive branding engines to satisfy political and economic agendas at an unprecedented speed and scale. However, what is often concealed is that China’s urban growth has been achieved thanks to the invaluable efforts of migrant workers. Treated as undesirable urban aspects and erased from the city due to their rural origins and low education, migrants’ labour has been crucial to build new cities and infrastructure. To shed light on these social dynamics, I investigate the representation of migrant workers through visual arts. Informed by semi-structured interviews with contemporary artists and visual analysis, this article offers an insight into the official narrative and the socio-spatial inequalities brought upon by urbanisation. Lastly, it contributes to the contemporary visual art discourse, outlining different representational and creative strategies from erasure to socially engaged works which evoke migrant workers’ social and transformative potential