Constructed from the Contemporary Chinese Art Collection of Dr. ZHOU Yan, Visual Resources Curator and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Kenyon College, these materials record a vibrant and important period in the development of Contemporary Chinese Art. The materials were initially gathered in preparation for the contemporary art section of China: 5000 Years, an exhibition held at Guggenheim Museum, New York, in 1998. When the contemporary art section was cancelled, all materials, including photographs, slides, video, audio cassette, and text, collected from artists who were visited mainly in China by Julia Brown, curator of the contemporary art section, and ZHOU Yan, Dr. Brown’s assistant, were taken over by ZHOU Yan. The materials which document the art made or planned to be made in the 1990s, reflect the creation of art in China under the influence of globalization and urbanization. Using these materials as the core, the archive is an on-going project, where documents beyond this period will be added reflecting Dr. ZHOU’s continued research on contemporary Chinese art. Dr. ZHOU currently has several undergraduate research assistants digitizing, cataloging, researching and uploading the collection, they are Zoe Chrissos ('18), Iris Yuqi Chen ('18), Hannah Russ ('18), Dounia Sawaya ('19), and May Chen ('20).

Documents of the Zhou Yan Contemporary Chinese Art Archive