Bloomsbury Academic Asia through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation Across Borders

How has Asia been imagined, represented and transferred both literally and visually across linguistic, geopolitical and cultural boundaries? This book explores the shifting roles of those who produce, critique and translate creative forms and practices, for which distinctions of geography, ethnicity, tradition and modernity have become fluid. Drawing on accounts of modern and contemporary art, film, literature, fashion and performance, it challenges established assumptions of the cultural products of Asia. Special attention is given to the role of cultural translators or 'long-distance cultural specialists' whose works bridge or traverse different worlds, with the inclusion of essays by three important artists who share personal accounts of their experiences creating and showing artworks that negotiate diverse cultural contexts. With contributions from key scholars of Asian art and culture, including art historian John Clark and anthropologist Clare Harris, alongside fresh voices in the field, Asia Through Art and Anthropology will be essential reading for students and scholars of anthropology, art history, Asian studies, visual and cultural studies. Review An original and wide-ranging collection that unravels the complexities of the category of translation in Asian art and aesthetics. The varied contributions by art historians, anthropologists, and artists explore multiple Asian perspectives on the translation and interpretation of art both in theory and practice. This engaging and attractive book will be of enormous value to scholars and students of Asian art and aesthetics, cultural translation, and of globalization, art and aesthetics. -- James McHugh, Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA About the Author Fuyubi Nakamura is an anthropologist affiliated with Institute for Art Anthropology at Tama Art University, Japan. Morgan Perkins is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Art and Director of the Museum Studies Program at the State University of New York-Potsdam, USA. Olivier Krischer is a postdoctoral fellow with the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University, Australia.