Primary Sources
Primary sources are materials in a variety of formats that serve as original evidence documenting a time period, an event, a work, people, or ideas. For modern art they include artist's writings, interviews, correspondence, as well as sketches, photographs and the work of art itself.
- Chinese Pamphlets (1947-1954)
Mass education materials published in Hong Kong and in Mainland China, particularly Shanghai, in the years 1947-1954. These cartoon books, pamphlets, postcards and magazines, on topics such as foreign threats to Chinese security, Chinese relations with the Soviet Union, industrial and agricultural production, and marriage reform, were produced by both Kuomintang (Nationalist) and Gongchantang (Communist) supporters. - Chinese Propaganda Posters
Posters from the collections of Stefan Landsberger and the International Institute of Social History (IISH, Amsterdam, Netherlands), and an anonymous private collection. Together these two collections contain of over 7,000 posters. - Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers
The first half of the twentieth century began with the demise of China’s last imperial dynasty, the Great Qing, and ended with the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949. Following the 1912 establishment of China’s first post-imperial government, the Republic of China, the country experienced both industrial and social revolution, a civil war during which communist and nationalist forces battled to shape the country’s future, and looming external threats during both world wars. - Morning Sun
Film about the Cultural Revolution. This site provides a broad overview as well as individual histories, narratives and events that reveal the complex, contradictory forces that led to an era of unrivalled revolutionary fervor and political turmoil. - Virtual Museum of the Cultural Revolution
Over 1 million words' worth of materials: texts by scholars of the Cultural Revolution, readers' contributions, and articles we found scattered in all sorts of electronic and print publications. The Chinese version of the collection is arranged into "Exhibition Halls"; the English version will be built similarly.
Primary Sources - Art
- Asian Art Archive
20th and 21st century art. China, Taiwan and Macao. Lists exhibition catalogues, monographs, books, periodicals, leaflets, invitations, clippings, DVDS, CD-ROMS and videos. One of the most comprehensive catalogs of modern & contemporary art
China Talks by Call Number: Art Library, N7345 .S26 2009ISBN: 9881803306Never before have so many Chinese artists been given such a wide platform to discuss their works and lives so directly, through dialogues with Jerome Sans, a well-known curator and critic..
Chinese Artists, Texts and Interviews by Call Number: Art Library, N7348 .C44 2002ISBN: 9628638882Revolution, subversion, and rebellion run throughout this compilation of interviews with, texts on, and works by the 23 artists who won the Chinese Contemporary Art Awards between 1998 and 2002. Jurists included Harald Szeeman, Alanna Heiss, Hou Hanru, Li Xianting and Uli Sigg.
- M+
Museum of 20th and 21st century visual culture: art, design, architecture and the moving image. Over 10,000 objects have images online. - Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990
A project of the Asia Art Archive, Materials of the Future gathers primary materials (in print and other media, and via interviews conducted by project staff) to document art in China from 1980 to 1990. The most significant materials have been published on the project website.