This paper focuses on the icon of “Our lady of China”, which was initiated in the early 20th century, to explore the possibility of an alternative visual modernity that mixed together Chinese and western visual cultures as a new one. Through examination of the patronage and reception of its earlier model of “Our lady of Donglü”, this paper concentrates on the beginning of the encountering of traditional and foreign cultures that exemplified by the icon in China during the early 20th century, to delve into the multiple social and historical contexts within which the modern ways of seeing were shaped in native China. The argument is that it is the 20th-century icon of “Our lady of China” that at last effectively visualized the specific Chinese notion of taking Madonna as “Mother Emperor”, which pursuit could trace back to the centuries-long Sinicization of the western icon of “Maria Regina”. The conclusion is that the icon of “Our lady of China” conveys both realistic and Christianized modernity, while at the same time it also distinguishes with several current typical narratives of modernity. In this sense, the icon of “Our lady of China” provides us a kind of so-called “alternative visual modernity” in the process of visual enlightenment in China in the early 20th century.
This article aims to analyze and study the evolution of Jiang Danshu’s aesthetic education thought, and he is an art educator in China. By studying Jiang Danshu’s educational experience and related academic documents, this article analyzes four stages of the evolution of his aesthetic education thought, summarizes and concludes that his aesthetic education thought has also completed the evolution from traditional to modern, from beautiful to practical, and from practical to educating people in the teaching practice from poetry,calligraphy, etiquette and music in private schools to painting and crafts at school, then to art academies. Finally, the educational proposition of harmony between China and the West with the combination of science and art has formed. In this process, Jiang Danshu’s indepth research in teaching practice, book writing and other aspects filled the gap in modern art education theory in China, formed a unique and perfect manual labor education thought,emphasized the arts and crafts education, and laid the ideological and theoretical foundation for the establishment of modern art design education in the 20th century in China.
The thematic art creation not only records the best of the times, but has a special meaning and value for the mass culture communication in the course of the modern and contemporary Chinese art history. In the chronological order, the author sorts out the thematic creation history of the northeast of China, its achievements and the positive influence of the related works on the public aesthetic education.
The mass aesthetic education based on the literature and art thematic creation depends upon modern media and is formed as an aesthetic education paradigm.It is guided by the leading creators or developed by the mass themselves. From the perspective of thematic creation in the context of the mass aesthetic education, the author focuses on the fundamental rules of thematic creation and its innovation and expansion,and tries to provide reference for the mass aesthetic education based on the thematic creation. He also combines the excellent thematic creation works with diverse aesthetic education communication forms whether online or offline to convey positive value orientation, thus casting the soul for the portrait of the times.
With the rapid iteration of digital technology, contemporary art has brought impact and challenge to the collection and protection work of art museums.The collection and preservation mode based on "material objects（original works）" in traditional museology does not match the expression of contemporary art based on temporality, dynamics, interactivity and variability. In this context, museum scholars have put forward the methods of "metadata" and " objects as data carriers " for the collection of contemporary art. From the perspective of preserving contemporary and cultural memory, the new theory expands the museum collection model with data standardization and non-physical preservation as strategies, and provides theoretical and practical discussions for the migration, simulation and reinterpretation of contemporary art.
