ABSTRACT
The essays and artworks gathered in this volume examine the visual manifestations of postcolonial struggles in art in East and Southeast Asia, as the world transitioned from the communist/capitalist ideological divide into the new global power structure under neoliberalism that started taking shape during the Cold War.
The contributors to this volume investigate the visual art that emerged in Australia, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Korea, Okinawa, and the Philippines. With their critical views and new approaches, the scholars and curators examine how visual art from postcolonial countries deviated from the communist/capitalist dichotomy to explore issues of identity, environment, rapid commercialization of art, and independence. These foci offer windows into some lesser-known aspects of the Cold War, including humanistic responses to the neo-imperial exploitations of people and resources as capitalism transformed into its most aggressive form.
Given its unique approach, this seminal study will be of great value to scholars of 20th-century East Asian and Southeast Asian art history and visual and cultural studies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|131 pages
Joining the game
chapter 2|35 pages
Before and beyond the Cold War
chapter 4|26 pages
Asia’s Cold War and environmental devastation
part II|34 pages
Visual gallery and primary documents
chapter 10|7 pages
From cities into the mountains and the fields
part III|59 pages
The continuous Cold War