Queerness as Masquerading: Displaying Queer Art in Contemporary China

Bao, Hongwei

Abstract

This chapter discusses some of the ways in which queer art is displayed in contemporary China, where the public expression and circulation of queerness is prohibited. The government ban on queer content does not mean that queer art does not exist in China, or that it is not displayed in public spaces. The chapter identifies some of the strategies that Chinese artists and curators use to display queer art, including using gender as masquerade, highlighting camp aesthetics, framing it as a performance, and including it in social activism. Drawing on and developing the feminist theory of masquerade, this chapter points out that one does not have to rely on identity-based terms such as gay, queer, or LGBTQ+ to express same-sex desire and gender fluidity; nor does one have to rely on museums and art galleries as privileged sites of curation and exhibition. This chapter challenges the Western identity-based understanding of queer art and the museum-based understanding of curation. It contributes to a better understanding of queer art and queer curation in a global context.

Citation

Bao, H. (2024). Queerness as Masquerading: Displaying Queer Art in Contemporary China. In P. Gladston, L. Howarth-Gladston, J. Tsong-zung Chang, & J. Kuo (Eds.), Rethinking Displays of Chinese Contemporary Art: Cultural Diversity and Tradition (91-108). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-2906-7_4

• Online Publication Date: Aug 21, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 22, 2026
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 91-108
• Series Title: Contemporary East Asian Visual Cultures, Societies and Politics
• Series ISSN: 2662-7701
• Book Title: Rethinking Displays of Chinese Contemporary Art: Cultural Diversity and Tradition
• ISBN: 9789819729050
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-2906-7_4
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/27368616
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-97-2906-7_4
• Related Public URLs: https://link.springer.com/book/9789819729050
• Additional Information: First Online: 21 August 2024
• Contract Date: Sep 1, 2023