ABSTRACT
We use Canterbury Museum’s Rewi Alley Collection to provide new perspectives on Chinese soft diplomacy during the Cold War of the 1950s and 1960s. Examining the period before New Zealand’s diplomatic recognition of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1972, we show how the gifting, exchange and exhibition of Chinese artworks instantiated both political and cultural relations between China and New Zealand. We examine the PRC’s sanctioning of artworks gifted by the New Zealander Rewi Alley (1897–1987) to Canterbury Museum. This established the Rewi Alley Collection, of approximately 1,400 objects, representative of China’s 4,000-year history. We explore the political motivations of key individuals involved in establishing the collection and the collection’s place in PRC people’s diplomacy and the World Peace Movement. We also consider Canterbury Museum’s active participation in this exchange and, where possible, political and cultural outcomes.
