Author Description

This Book Provides An In-depth And Thematic Analysis Of Socially Engaged Art In Mainland China, Exploring Its Critical Responses To And Creative Interventions In China's Top-down, Pro-urban, And Profit-oriented Socioeconomic Transformations. It Focuses On The Socially Conscious Practices Of Eight Art Professionals Who Assume The Role Of Artist, Critic, Curator, Educator, Cultural Entrepreneur, And Social Activist, Among Others, As They Strive To Expose The Injustice And Inequality Many Chinese People Have Suffered, Raise Public Awareness Of Pressing Social And Environmental Problems, And Invent New Ways And Infrastructures To Support Various Underprivileged Social Groups. Art And Social Criticism. Art Criticism, Exhibition, And Citizen Politics: Wang Nanming And The Theory Of Critical Art -- Waste, Pollution, And Environment Activism: Wang Jiuliang And The Power Of Documenting -- Art And Place Construction. Art, Urban Renewal, And Grassroots Community Building: Zheng Dazhen And Lifestyle Activism -- Rural Reconstruction Through Art: Zuo Jing And Place-making For The People -- Art And Personal Development. From Representation To Collaboration: Wen Fang And Her Participatory Art -- Art Education For Children: Hu Jianqiang, Wang Jun, And The Nurture Effect -- Conclusion: Art And The Right To Bottom-up Social Changes. Meiqin Wang. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 217-231) And Index.