Online courses directory (19947)

How can we think of culture as a tool for understanding foreign societies?
Why do emerging countries consider cultural values as instrumental in their quest for modernisation?
How can art contribute to a country’s public image?

These are central questions in an increasingly globalised world. Through a case study on global culture, this online course on the first ever award for contemporary art in China aims to address these questions and to find some possible answers.

While working through six chapters, you will receive exclusive reading material, supplementary videos and background information about the developments in the Chinese art scene over the past 40 years, the Chinese Contemporary Art Award established by Mr Uli Sigg as well as the Sigg Collection as part of the newly created M+ museum in Hong Kong.

Moreover, you will gain insights into Chinese contemporary art, first-hand information about the art scene in China, and a wide range of contacts with relevant local and international institutions and actors.

The course is produced by the Centre of Further Education at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), based on research by IFCAR and presented by Michael Schindhelm on the e-learning platform iversity.org.

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Zurich University of the Arts

Centre of Further Education

Prof. Elisabeth Danuser

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Target Group

The CCAA online course is tailored to the needs and interests of curators, collectors, art managers, artists, journalists, cultural producers, gallery owners and researchers but equally attractive for curious individuals.

Prerequisites

If you opt for the Certification of Accomplishment track, you must have experience in a cultural or artistic field in order to help shape your personal perspective. Such prior knowledge will help you while completing the assignment and applying models and methods.

With its audit track, the CCAA online course also welcomes curious individuals.

Learning Objectives

In this online course you will learn:

By working through the entire online course, you will acquire the skills and knowledge needed to analyse and navigate the Chinese contemporary art scene.

Course Structure

This online course will be accessible for one year, beginning on April 13, 2016. For the first six weeks, it will be released as a time-based MOOC with a new chapter launched every Wednesday. Later on, it will be available as a self-paced course.

The course includes six chapters:

Suggested reading list

• Belting, Hans 2011: Global Studies. Mapping Contemporary Art and Culture. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz.
  
• Chiu, Melissa 2008: Chinese Contemporary Art. 7 Things You Should Know. New York: AW Asia.
  
• Fibicher, Bernhard (ed.) 2005: Mahjong. Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz. (exhibition catalogue)
  
• Goodrow, Gérard A. 2014: Crossing China. Land of the Rising Art Scene. Köln: Daab.
  
• Schindhelm, Michael et al. 2014: Why Hong Kong. Connecting Spaces Documents # 1, Zurich. http://issuu.com/connecting_spaces_hk_zh/docs/why_hong_kong_k
  
• Wu, Hung 2014: Contemporary Chinese Art. A History: 1970s-2000s. London: Thames&Hudson.
  

How can we think of culture as a tool to understand foreign societies?
Why emerging countries consider cultural values as instrumental in their quest for modernization?
How can art contribute to a country’s public image?

These are central questions in an increasingly globalized world. Through a case study on global culture, this online course on the first ever award for contemporary art in China named CCAA aims to address these questions and identify some possible answers.

While working through six chapters, you will receive exclusive reading material, supplementary videos and background information about the developments in the Chinese art scene of the last 40 years, the Chinese Contemporary Art Award established by Mr Uli Sigg as well as the Sigg Collection as part of the newly created museum M+ in Hong Kong.
Moreover, you get insights into contemporary Chinese art, first-hand information about the art scene in China, and a wide range of contacts with relevant local and international institutions and actors.

What will I learn?

In this online course you will learn about...

• ... the crucial stakeholders, institutions and networks that influence/d Chinese contemporary art.
• ...divergent terminological interpretations in a global context.
• ... how questions can be discussed and approached with the CCAA case study, by applying it to other topics in the field of global culture.
• ... the strategy of running an art award, as used by Uli Sigg to explore and describe the - to him unknown - field of Chinese contemporary art.
• ...the ambivalences of Chinese art historiography and how to build a sensorium for different interest groups and their agendas
• ... a method on how to study cultural milieus with the help of a specific model.
• and finally, you will develop criteria necessary for critically engaging with contemporary Chinese art.

By working through the entire online course, you will acquire the skills and knowledge needed to analyze and navigate the Chinese contemporary art scene.

What do I need to know?

If you opt for the Certification of Accomplishment track, you might have experience in a cultural or artistic field to bring in individual perspectives and your personal expertise. Such prior knowledge will help you while writing the assignment and applying models and methods.

With its audit track, the CCAA online course also welcomes curious individuals.

Course Structure

This online course will be accessible for one year, beginning on April 13, 2016. For the first six weeks, it will be released as a time-based MOOC with a new chapter launched every Wednesday. Later on, it will be available as a self-paced course.

The course includes six chapters:

1 - Chinese contemporary art in the context of cultural globalization
Chapter 1 gives you an insight into the complexity of how cultural globalization can be approached in form of a case study and why the example of China is appropriate to study these questions.

2 - Bringing up China – Uli Sigg, his collection and its internationalization
Chapter 2 «Bringing up China» leads to discussions on how culture can be understood as a tool in order to understand foreign societies and how Mr Sigg strategically approached China’s art scene.

3 - The west discovers contemporary Chinese Art — and so does China
Chapter 3 investigates how art can contribute to a country’s public image and how this has been used by different actors to promote a certain impression of Chinese society and cultural production.

4 - The Story of the Unknown Artist. From mapping the art scene to promoting excellency.
Chapter 4 broaches the subject on how the CCAA’s approach on promoting artists has changed over the years and why the model of the «unknown artist» is introduced to trace these changes.

5 - Locating the CCAA – From letter-box company to multi-purpose centre
Chapter 5 traces back the adaptations of the art prize and its institutional representation over the last 15 years. The learners find out about the enormous shifts in Chinese society, politics and also the art scene.

6 - 15 Years CCAA – Whom does Chinese contemporary art belong to?
Chapter 6 aims to discuss the question of independence in art on the occasion of the CCAA’s first encounter with government censorship during the 15-year anniversary show in Shanghai. Finally, the massive museum project M+ is presented.

The course features two different tracks. The Audit Track is for free and allows learners to get familiar with the subject. The Certificate Track costs €119. To obtain a Certificate of Accomplishment , participants must submit an assignment. The ZHdK Centre of Further Education evaluates assignments four times a year.