ABSTRACT
Exhibitions borrowing contemporary art from China do not usually need the approval of the Chinese government. Such exhibitions, and artists and their art works on show, are non-governmental actors impacting the image and perceptions of China. The exhibition did not receive financial and political support from the Chinese side, although the China Central Academy of Fine Arts was consulted for background information, including the history of Chinese contemporary design. Lucia van der Post argued in The Times that ‘the Chinese have mostly been known in the West for making cheaply what other countries have designed’. China’s economic rise at the turn of the 21st century largely because of its manufacture and export, as a result of low labour and production costs, is generally stereotyped as ‘Made in China’. Jonathan Jones argued in The Guardian that China Design Now was badly timed, because of the unrest in Tibet and nearby provinces in March 2008.
