Possibilities of lockdown: Chinese art associations’ experience of organization of exhibitions and other activities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe Chinese creative unions’ activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as museums and art education institutions Chinese creative associations (unions) are important element of national artistic society. The article provides the reader with information on experience of creative associations based on the analysis of associations’ official publication, scientific literature, and media publications in Chinese language. The impact on society that is demonstrated by Chinese artistic associations during the pandemic has been quite significant. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the activities of Chinese artists’ associations (unions) in the conditions shaped by the collision with the coronavirus pandemic in 2020–2021. The relevance of the study is due, first of all, to the need to comprehend the experience of using alternative methods and strategies in the modern artistic environment during the period of globalization and pandemic. The study has shown that the activities of the unions of artists can be flexible. There has been a noticeable expansion of range of interacting practices with spectator as well as the professional community during the lockdown. It is revealed that secondary forms of interaction (online activities) have become predominant, the creativity of art associations’ members have aimed at the moral and material maintenance of society, inter-institutional and inter-regional cooperation has intensified. Thus, creative unions have demonstrated the ability to respond to topical issues of the time and to influence the perception of the happening in society.

Keywords:

associations of Chinese artists, creative association, lockdown, COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese art, alternative exhibition practices