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Symbolic Inversions in Chinese Art at Columbia University

October 11, 2022

Teapot with Black Peony Blossoms, 1913, porcelain, British Museum

Symbolic Inversions in Chinese Art, Columbia University
Alfreda Murck
Thursday, October 13, 2022, 6-7pm
807 Schermerhorn Hall

Authors and artists in most cultures have expressed opinions through symbolic inversions: verbal or visual expressions of a world turned upside down (mundus inversus). In China it was sometimes referred to as “black and white reversed” (黑白颠倒 heibai diandao). Symbolic inversions allowed artists to express disappointment at lack of success, to comment on an injustice, or to contradict social norms. What did depictions of a world turned upside down look like? This lecture will offer five examples of poets and painters presenting symbolic inversions.

This lecture is in-person only; reception follows
RSVP: mo2486@columbia.edu
Mary Griggs Burke Center for Japanese Art