ABSTRACT
International art exhibitions have proven to be one of the most powerful ways to construct the image of a nation. Such exhibitions also hold the potential to ‘keep open negotiating channels with countries where political connections are in jeopardy’ and may even be ‘the sole conduit of bilateral exchange’. Yet there is also the question of whether such exhibitions constitute political propaganda, and this is perhaps much more critical when considering Chinese museums, because the Chinese government is known to exert strict control over its arts and culture, and appears to have adopted a top-down model to generate soft power. Indeed, China’s soft power strategy has attracted considerable attention over the past decade, due, in part, to the high visibility of art exhibitions sent to Western museums. Are these exhibitions sent and promoted by the Chinese government with the intention of relaying a political message? Are the lending museums ordered by the Chinese government to deliver political messages? Or to put it more baldly, are such exhibitions and their associated museums the propaganda tools of China’s cultural diplomacy?
Taking The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army exhibition hosted at the British Museum in 2007–8 as a case study, this chapter attempts to answer these questions. It offers insights into the overall system of China’s cultural diplomacy, as well as the management and bureaucratic systems that enable the participation of Chinese museums. Additionally, and in a broader sense, it offers some empirical evidence to help understand the motivations for museums’ engagement in, as well as their impact on, cultural diplomacy in the ‘global contemporary’.
