Understanding Authenticity in China's Cultural Heritage Conference
What we deem to be genuine or fake is not an objective determination, but something that we agree upon as communities. Debates about authenticity, moreover, are often intimately bound to the question of who owns the past and its representation. The “Understanding Authenticity in China’s Cultural Heritage” conference this March will explore these issues and more. From contesting narratives about the mother trees of Big Red Robe tea, to the restoration of Qin terracotta soldiers; from the experience of visiting a replica Eiffel Tower in Hangzhou, to US-China diplomatic tensions over "originality" and "shanzhai 山寨 (imitation)” – "Understanding Authenticity in China's Cultural Heritage” brings together specialists from a broad range of fields and backgrounds, to explore how questions about “authenticity” impact their work on objects, texts, and intangible cultural heritage in China.
Please join us online March 16th-20th, 2021, for a discussion on the construction of “authenticity,” both historically and today, in relation to China’s cultural heritage. Registration is free, attendance is open to all, via submission of a short survey HERE.
If you are experiencing difficulties with signing up or if you have any question, please contact Drs Chris Foster & Anke Hein at: understandingauthenticity@gmail.com.
FORMAT & DATES
The conference will be hosted virtually via the Zoom platform. The keynote by Prof. Lothar von Falkenhausen will be live. Video recordings of all other presentations will be made available ~1 week prior to the start of the conference. Attendees are expected to view these recordings beforehand. The live panel sessions will then be dedicated solely to questions & discussion on each of the presentations. Please see the full schedule below.
16 March, 2021
14:00-15:30 GMT Keynote Lecture
Prof Lothar von Falkenhausen (UCLA): The Irresistible Allure of Patina and Pedigree: A Case Study
17 March, 2021, 13:00 GMT
13:00-13:20 GMT Opening Remarks
Dr Christopher Foster (University of Oxford)
Dr Anke Hein (University of Oxford)
Session 1: Art and Material Culture
Chair and Discussant: Prof Craig Clunas (University of Oxford)
13:20-13:40 David Scott (UCLA): Constructions and Deconstructions of Authenticity in Chinese Art
13:40-14:00 Celia Carrington Riely (Independent Scholar): The Two Versions of Dong Qichang’s River in Mist and Piled Peaks and the Impact of High-Resolution Photography on the Question of Authenticity
14:00-14:20 Zhang Yanzhuang (Gillian) (Ohio State University): Authenticating Su Shi’s Snowy Wave Stone in Premodern China
14:20-14:40 Coffee break
14:40-15:00 Jean DeBernardi (University of Alberta): The Modern Invention of Big Red Robe Tea: History, Story, and Performance
15:00-15:20 Robin Wilson (University of Oxford): Karamono (Chinese Things): Authenticity, legitimacy and mimetics in the production and use of Chinese-inspired Japanese ceramic tea utensils, past and present
15:20-15:40 Gao Xuyang (University of Oxford): Problems of authenticity: reflections on contemporary zisha teapot-making techniques
15:40-16:00 General discussion
18 March, 2021, 13:00 GMT
Session 2: Texts and Manuscripts
Chair and Discussant: Dr Dirk Meyer (University of Oxford)
13:00-13:20 Paul Goldin (University of Pennsylvania): The Spread of Virtue and the Fallacy of Authenticity in Classical Chinese Aesthetics
13:20-13:40 Kevin (Kuan-yun) Huang (City University of Hong Kong): Authenticity and the Authenticating of Ancient Chinese Texts
13:40-14:00 Nick Vogt (Indiana University): The “Real” Life (and Death) of King Wen: Biography as Authentication in the Yizhoushu
14:00-14:20 Corina Smith (University of Oxford): Venerated Documents: What are shu, and what is at stake?
14:20-14:40 Coffee break
14:40-15:00 Rachel McVeigh (Peking University): (Mis)remembering the Tang? The attribution of the ‘Twenty Four Categories of Poetry’ to Sikong Tu
15:00-15:20 Timothy Thurston (University of Leeds): Multiple Authenticities of the Tibetan Gesar Epic
15:20-16:00 General discussion
19 March, 2021, 13:00 GMT
Session 3: Museums, Collections, and Displays
Chair and Discussant: Prof JP Park (University of Oxford)
13:00-13:20 Li Xiuzhen (Janice) (University of Oxford): Revisiting Authenticity: Restoration and Conservation of the Qin First Emperor’s Terracotta Army
13:20-13:40 Gao Qian (University of Stirling): Authenticity and Heritage Conservation: Seeking Common Complexities beyond the ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ Dichotomy
13:40-14:00 General discussion
14:00-14:20 Cornelius Holtorf (Linnaeus University), Ma Qingkai (Hangzhou Normal University), Chen Xian (Zhejiang University), and Zhang Yu (Zhejiang University A&F): Paris, China. Some thoughts about the value of simulated heritage
14:20-14:40 Coffee break
14:40-15:00 Patrycja Pendrakowska (University of Warsaw): Can a copy deliver an authentic experience? An interdisciplinary approach to fieldwork conducted in Southeast China
15:00-15:20 Jennifer Kreder (Northern Kentucky University): Shanzai and Fuzhi Tensions in U.S.-Chinese Diplomacy
15:20-16:00 General discussion
20 March, 2021, 13:00 GMT
Session 4: Cultural Heritage Management
Chair and Discussant: Dr Yitzchak Jaffe (University of Haifa)
13:00-13:20 Tao Li (Shanghai Normal University): Attraction or Distraction? Exploring the Influence of Tourism on the Interpretation of Cultural Heritage at the National Archaeological Park of the Qi Capital Site, China
13:20-13:40 Wei Qiaowei (Shanghai University): Touched by the past? Re-articulating the Longxing temple sites as community heritage at Qingzhou County, China
13:40-14:00 General discussion
14:00-14:20 Coffee break
14:20-14:40 Jie Hao (University of Birmingham): Who decides? The Authenticity of Traditional Rural Settlement Heritagization Practices: A Case Study of a Chinese Traditional Village
14:40-15:00 Stefan Gruber (Kyoto University): Socio-legal Perspectives on Authenticity in China’s Cultural Heritage
15:00-16:00 Final discussion
Presentation available for viewing over the course of the conference, Q&A via e-mail:
Phillip Grimberg (University of Erlangen): UNESCO World Heritage and the Problem of Authenticity – The Case of “Built Structures” and China's Tangible Cultural Heritage
