殖民主义遗留与迁徙记忆：全球解殖转向中的华人艺术实践
随着21世纪殖民研究的深入，学界日益关注迁徙与殖民主义残余之间的深层关联。正如露西·梅布林和乔·特纳所指出的，在全球语境下，身份政治与迁徙相关的历史叙事“与殖民主义有着千丝万缕的联系”。鸦片战争后一个世纪的中国移民史呈现出复杂多元的面貌——既包含契约劳工的非自愿迁徙，也涵盖依托家族、社群及商业网络的自愿流动。然而，殖民主义始终是塑造现代中国移民史的主导力量，这种影响至今仍在全球华人移民群体中持续重塑着政治话语、身份认同与文化表达。
本讲座将通过全球视角下的中国移民史棱镜，深入考察中国及华语圈艺术家如何通过艺术实践回应殖民遗产。通过对多元艺术策略的深度解析，讲座将在更广阔的历史与社会文化框架中，探讨以下相互交织的核心问题：
- 在19世纪以来的跨国历史与地理语境中，殖民性如何通过重构“中国”这一动态地理概念及其权力结构，塑造了华侨群体迁徙的被迫性与内在矛盾？这些殖民结构如何持续影响当代华裔移民体验，并折射于当代艺术世界？
- 中国和华语艺术家如何通过创作实践解构殖民遗产中的权力等级与移民身份政治？如何重建跨越世代与地域的集体记忆？如何挑战并重塑“不被同化的他者”这一对华侨群体的刻板表征？
- 在全球去殖民语境下，中文及华语圈艺术家如何运用档案重组、身体化叙事与空间介入等艺术策略，为构建更具包容性的历史叙事开辟新的可能？
讲座将这些议题置于后殖民理论、移民研究及当代去殖民辩论的交汇点，通过深入剖析针对华裔移民殖民主义遗留问题的艺术实践，重点考察、离散群体与遣返现象如何受殖民遗产塑造，以及艺术如何成为重写历史、重构身份的批判性力量。
Colonial Legacies and Migration Memories: Chinese and Sinophone Artistic Practices in the Global Decolonial Turn
HE XIANGNING ART MUSEUM
2025.11.23 14:30-16:00
As colonial studies have deepened in the 21st century, academia has increasingly focused on the profound connections between migration and colonial legacies. As Lucy Mayblin and Joe Turner point out, in a global context, identity politics and migration-related historical narratives are “inextricably linked to colonialism.” The century of Chinese migration history following the Opium Wars presents a complex and multifaceted picture—encompassing both the involuntary migration of indentured laborers and voluntary movements facilitated by familial, communal, and commercial networks. However, colonialism has consistently been the dominant force shaping modern Chinese migration history, an influence that continues to reshape political discourse, identity formation, and cultural expression among global Chinese diaspora communities to this day.
This lecture will employ the prism of Chinese migration history from a global perspective to examine in depth how Chinese and Sinophone artists respond to colonial legacies through their artistic practices. Through comprehensive analysis of diverse artistic strategies, the lecture will explore the following interconnected core questions within a broader historical and sociocultural framework:
Within the transnational historical and geographical contexts since the 19th century, how has coloniality shaped the coerced nature and internal contradictions of overseas Chinese migration by reconstructing “China” as a dynamic geographical concept and its power structures? How do these colonial structures continue to influence contemporary Chinese immigrant experiences and reflect in the contemporary art world?
How do Chinese and Sinophone artists deconstruct power hierarchies and immigrant identity politics embedded in colonial legacies through their creative practices? How do they rebuild collective memory that transcends generations and geographies? How do they challenge and reshape the stereotypical representation of overseas Chinese communities as “unassimilable others”?
In the global decolonial context, how do Chinese and Sinophone artists employ artistic strategies such as archival reconfiguration, embodied narratives, and spatial interventions to open new possibilities for constructing more inclusive historical narratives?
The lecture positions these issues at the intersection of postcolonial theory, migration studies, and contemporary decolonial debates. Through in-depth analysis of artistic practices addressing colonial legacies affecting Chinese immigrants, it will focus on examining how diaspora communities and repatriation phenomena are shaped by colonial heritage, and how art becomes a critical force for rewriting history and reconstructing identity.