Date: March 20,2026 (Fri)
Time: 9:00–10:30 AM Hong Kong time (Thursday, March 19, 9:00–10:30 PM EDT)
Venue: Zoom (online meeting)
Registration: https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13727206
Centering on the diverse and divisive terrain of Japanese art between 1945 and 1952, In the Shadow of Empire creates a fluid map of relationality that brings multiple Cold War spheres into dialogue, stretching beyond US-occupied Japan to art from China, Europe, the Soviet Union, and the United States, and demonstrates the rich potential of this transnational site of artmaking for rethinking the history of Japanese and global postwar art.
Speaker:
Alicia Volk is a scholar of Japanese modern art and Professor of Japanese Art History at the University of Maryland. Her publications address a range of mediums and critical issues in Japanese art from the nineteenth century to the present, including its relationship to the arts of Europe, the United States, and Asia.
Volk’s latest book, In the Shadow of Empire: Art in Occupied Japan (University of Chicago Press, 2025) brings a novel critical perspective concerning empire to the study of Japanese art under the American occupation of Japan (1945-1952). Through the analysis of charismatic artworks in a range of mediums and political commitments, In the Shadow of Empire shows how the forgotten art of a country in the shadows of American empire variously accommodated and resisted the Cold War global realignment that followed on the heels of World War II.
Note:This event is an informal conversation with the author about her forthcoming book. After a brief overview of the project, the session will continue with a moderated discussion and extended Q&A. The event is intended primarily for MA students and local colleagues in Hong Kong and is designed to support close, collegial exchange.
Moderator:
Prof. SaeHim PARK, CUHK
The talk will be conducted in English.
Organiser: Centre for Cultural Studies, CUHK
For enquiries: cuccs@cuhk.edu.hk