Georgia Southwestern State University has many long-standing collaborative relationships with institutions all over the globe, particularly with schools in China. In fact, the GSW Department of Visual Arts’ newly-formed Center for Chinese Bie-Modern Studies is hosting its first-ever conference Oct. 5-7 on campus. Each session will be held in Room 127 of the Wheatley Administration Building. The conference theme is “Art: Premodern, Modern, Postmodern, Bie-Modern.”
 
The conference is a joint effort of the CCBMS and the Institute of Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education at Shanghai Normal University, facilitated by SNU Professor Wang Jianjiang. Scholars and artists from all over China will be on the GSW campus for this conference, which will include three sessions of scholarly paper presentations, panel discussion about contemporary Chinese creative culture, and three separate exhibition venues for contemporary art.
 
“This is a great way for students to experience an academic conference and learn about the issues facing creative artists, critics and theorists in contemporary China,” said GSW Associate Professor of Art and conference organizer Keaton Wynn. “All students, faculty, staff and the community are invited to participate.”
 
According to Wynn, “Bie” is word or character that can mean many things, indicating that some scholars use it to describe what is “pseudo” or “fake.” “The flexibility of its meaning is useful for creative responses to contemporary Chinese culture,” Wynn added.