The China Moment - Contextualizing Individualism in Chinese Contemporary Art - Exhibition Catalogue and Critical Reader on 1990s-2000s Art in China

Revisiting a transformative era of Chinese contemporary art through essays, archives, and striking visual documentation. 
The China Moment explores one of the most dynamic turning points in global art history. Published to accompany the exhibition at the documenta Institut Kassel (January-March 2026), the book sheds new light on the radical shifts in Chinese art during the 1990s and 2000s. 
This richly illustrated volume stands out through:

• In-depth essays by leading scholars and curators analyzing art, politics, and society 
• Rare archival materials that reveal the cultural transformations of the time 
• Visual documentation capturing the diversity and intensity of artistic practices 

A critical reader and catalogue in one, the publication rethinks individualism as a key concept shaping the relationship between art, state, and public life in China's rapidly changing cultural landscape.

Summary

Revisiting a transformative era of Chinese contemporary art through essays, archives, and striking visual documentation. 
The China Moment explores one of the most dynamic turning points in global art history. Published to accompany the exhibition at the documenta Institut Kassel (January–March 2026), the book sheds new light on the radical shifts in Chinese art during the 1990s and 2000s. 
This richly illustrated volume stands out through:

• In-depth essays by leading scholars and curators analyzing art, politics, and society 
• Rare archival materials that reveal the cultural transformations of the time 
• Visual documentation capturing the diversity and intensity of artistic practices 

A critical reader and catalogue in one, the publication rethinks individualism as a key concept shaping the relationship between art, state, and public life in China’s rapidly changing cultural landscape.

Product details

• Authors: Su Wei, Mi You
• Assisted by: Anna-Lisa Scherfose (Editor), Su Wei (Editor), Mi You (Editor), Heinz Bude (Foreword)
• Publisher: Hatje Cantz Verlag
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 21.01.2026
• EAN: 9783775761680
• ISBN: 978-3-7757-6168-0
• No. of pages: 144
• Illustrations: 40 Abb.
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Plastic arts; Kommunismus, Kunst, Kunstgeschichte, Chinesisch, China, Zeitgenössische Kunst, Gesellschaft und Kultur, allgemein, Das Selbst, das Ich, Identität und Persönlichkeit, Menschenrechte, Bürgerrechte, Politik und Staat, Kassel, Documenta, Chinese, chinesische Kunst, auseinandersetzen, Politische Ideologien und Bewegungen der extremen Linken, Kunst: allgemeine Themen, Gesellschaftliche Gruppen, Gemeinschaften und Identitäten, Politischer Aktivismus / Politisches Engagement, ca. 1990 bis ca. 1999, ca. 2000 bis ca. 2009, Chinese art, Geschichte Chinas und benachbarter Gebiete, Contemporary Chinese Artists