Overview
From Paula Curtis Collection[1]: Norman A. Spencer, Ph.D. has taught at universities in Africa, China, and the U.S. including the China Communications University in Beijing. From 1999 to 2019 he repeatedly traveled to China documenting notable artists, writers, directors and musicians active in the Chinese independent and underground film and art scene. Most of the photographs were taken in Beijing and later in Dali in Yunnan Province in the southwest of China. Dali is considered a “free zone” where celebrities, artists, writers, and musicians intermingle and celebrate life with local ethnic minorities and with young Chinese who choose to live on the margins of mainstream society. Spencer also documented well known Chinese artists and writers who live in exile in New York City, London, and Paris. Spanning more than twenty years, the photographs in this collection capture a rare glimpse into the lives of the Chinese film and art scene at the turn of the 21st century. Descriptions of the images were provided by Norman Spencer and his wife, Xiaojian Peng.
- Institution/Author: University of California San Diego
- Period: Modern
- Geographic Focus: China
- Access: Open Access
Digital Humanities Resources on East Asia by Dr. Paula R. Curtis ↩︎