Abstract
The previous chapter mentions the New Ink Movement in Hong Kong in the 1960s. This chapter provides a description of the fabulous history of painting and painting theories in the rapidly developing Hong Kong from 1940 to 1980 by highlighting the work and aesthetics of several representative local Chinese painters and art bodies. This outline of history reflects a search for cultural identity and the different attitudes among Chinese painters who struggled between modernized and Western influences in art and their Chinese tradition. Comparison is made with the attitudes of the younger generation in the 1980s which reflects the capitalistic influences on artistic identity. Finally, art and cultural theories in contemporary postcolonial discourse are critically examined on their application to the situation of Hong Kong.
This chapter was originally published in Filozofski vestnik, Ljubljana: Institute of Philosophy in the Centre for Scientific Research of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences & Arts. Vol. XVII, No. 2/1996, (February, 1997), pp. 83–105.
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Notes
- 1.
The radical political tensions that emerged between the British government and the Chinese leftists in the colony in the 1960s were initiated by a group of factory workers on strike in San Po Kong which resulted in the 1967 riot. Thousands of workers joined in the riot, which led to injuries. The riot was read as a local rebellion against the colonial government. After the riot, localization policy was promoted by the colonial government to build up a sense of belonging and local awareness among Hong Kong citizens.
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Man, E.K.W. (2015). Experimental Painting and Painting Theories in Colonial Hong Kong (1940–1980): Reflections on Cultural Identity. In: Issues of Contemporary Art and Aesthetics in Chinese Context. Chinese Contemporary Art Series. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46510-3_7
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