Sinopticon: Contemporary Chinoiserie in Contemporary Art

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, Drake Circus
28 April to 7 July 2012
(also at Saltram House, Plymouth Arts Centre and Plymouth College of Art Gallery)

Discover more about the historical and cultural influence of China on Western decorative art in this exhibition curated by Eliza Gluckman, and supported by Arts Council England and the National Trust’s ‘Trust New Art’ programme.

‘Sinopticon’ features work by 13 international artists including 2003 Turner Prize winner, Grayson Perry and 2001 Turner Prize nominee, Isaac Julien.

It includes photographs, paintings, films, ceramics and installations. The works explore issues such as politics and trade, authorship, interpretation, fantasy and fiction. They are all concerned with contemporary approaches to ‘chinoiserie’ – an 18th century term that arose from the West’s fascination for Chinese artefacts.

The exhibition is part of a long-term project initiated and developed by curator, Eliza Gluckman and artists, Gayle Chong Kwan and Stephanie Douet. It is intended to be viewed as one exhibition across four sites and will be displayed at Saltram House, Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and Plymouth College of Art Gallery.

Sinopticon exhibition and events guide [5.2MB]

Sinopticon teacher's notes [3.5MB]

BA (Hons) Contemporary Craft students from University College Falmouth have been working with the museum to produce work both in response to the Chinese collections and the themes of the exhibition. Find out more about the work, some of which is on display in our first floor China Connection gallery.

Falmouth students handout [1MB]

Related events

A huge programme of events will be on offer across all four venues. The City Museum and Art Gallery will be offering a Lunchtime Talk by featured artist, Gayle Chong Kwan on 19 June. It will also be running a series of Art Bite talks/tours on 2 and 23 May and 13 and 27 June. Family-friendly special events will take place on 19 May and 23 June. There will also be holiday workshops on 6 and 7 June and a contemporary craft workshop for adults on 9 June. For a full events listing for all four exhibition venues visit the Sinopticon website.