The dominant narrative of Chinese contemporary art has often overlooked the vibrant developments in border regions, such as Tibet and Inner Mongolia. In the 1990s to 2000s, an emergence of site-specific art had been seen among ethnic minority artists in Tibet and Mongolia. While Tibetan artists developed their practices from within their homeland, Inner Mongolian artists followed a different path shaped by movement between Beijing and home.

The research undertaken by Dr. Mei Huang examines how land-based practices, cross-ethnic collaborations, global economic forces, and the region’s cultural and political dynamics intersected to generate distinct trajectories of site-specific art in both places. Drawing on primary materials, fieldwork, key artistic case studies, dialogues with artists, and access to personal archives, the research brings forward a reconstructed timeline of histories that have remained largely invisible. Together, these intertwined artistic networks and practices reveal overlooked centres and forms of contemporary art in China, expanding how its story can be understood.

In this public talk, ‘The Places We Didn’t Look From: Tracing Site-Specific Art by Ethnic Minority Artists in Tibet and Inner Mongolia, 1990–2000s’, Dr. Mei Huang will discuss her research findings, examining ethnic minority art practices in China's frontier regions and their spatial relationships amid historical changes, social structures, and globalisation.

Dr. Mei Huang is the awarded fellow of Sigg Fellowship for Chinese Art Research 2024/25. The talk will be conducted in English, with simultaneous interpretation available in Cantonese and Mandarin. Click ‘register’ to sign up for the free talk.