Creating for the Profane: Self-taught Artists’ Navigation of the Official Art System in China

• In Event: 20420 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 11: Ethnography

Abstract

This paper uses a cultural lens to investigate the imagination of and engagement with the official art system by self-taught painters in China. In the Chinese art scene, the official art system plays a crucial role of evaluating and consecrating artworks and artists. The self-taught artists, however, have very limited information of, social network in, or access to this art world, even though the reputation from engaging with the officialdom could benefit their careers. Despite the still dominating classical sociological approaches that focus on the social production of the arts, recent scholarship in this area has put an increasing emphasis on the meaning-making of the actors, especially the artists, as they explore their career paths. This study draws on ethnographic data and interviews with 17 self-taught artists in China and shows how the sacred/profane aspects about these artists’ culture of creativity can be multi-layered and interchangeable as they navigate the officialdom. It thus offers a cultural perspective to understand the creative approaches to work with the polluting forces in art production, artistic career, and social life in general.

Author

• Jiayi Tian, University of Edinburgh