A Message from the Publisher

Nixi Cura
Ph.D Candidate
Institute of Fine Arts
New York University

Chinese-art.com consists of two English-language web magazines that provide ground-breaking research and critique of art-making in China to readers outside mainland China. The contemporary magazine features guest editors focusing on the mercurial, exhilarating contemporary art scene, while the traditional magazine presents recent scholarship on traditional arts under the editorship of Professor Yin Jinan of the China Central Institute of Fine Arts. Both contemporary and traditional sites offer an opportunity for Chinese scholars, artists, and critics to express an indigenous point of view to a global audience. As the contemporary magazine has demonstrated in the past year, readership outside China increasingly demands up-to-date, diverse, and discerning perspectives on Chinese art. Our goal is to expand the field of Chinese art history to reflect more fully the often neglected or simply inaccessible contributions of the Chinese. How's that for engagement?

In addition to publishing Chinese contributions to the fields of art history and archaeology, the traditional magazine also enables scholars outside the mainland to present their research and observations. Chinese-art.com welcomes submissions from scholars who wish to publish shorter pieces without standing in line for the too few peer-reviewed journals willing to publish images. We are in the process of assembling a trans-national advisory board to vet future articles in order to maintain a high academic standard. Within two or three issues, the traditional magazine will be the first, and hopefully not the last, refereed electronic journal of Chinese art history.

The journal will present articles by Chinese scholars, book reviews of Chinese- and Western-language books by Chinese scholars, updates on auctions in the mainland, highlights from China Archaeology and Art Digest (which summarizes mainland journals), and offer books by ­- yup -­ Chinese scholars that often do not reach readers outside China because of miniscule production runs. More importantly, we are able to obtain professional photographs at low cost. These illustrate objects that most scholars outside China will never see in person; and even if access were available, it's at a steep price, whether in "guanxi" or U.S. dollars. The magazine will have lots and lots of pictures -- as thumbnail images, in large format, in multiple views -- all downloadable and printable (subject to copyright restrictions, of course). Archived back issues will be accessible for citation by future researchers via Internet and in hard copy.

Despite two decades of increased dialogue, non-mainland scholars of Chinese art history and archaeology must still overcome the physical, cultural, and theoretical remoteness of China. To traverse this distance and sustain meaningful intellectual exchange requires money ­- what most academics and most Chinese don't have. The immediacy and accessibility (free!) of a Web-based forum removes this hurdle, exposing a larger playing field. In keeping with this goal, we welcome your comments and suggestions on site content, format, and design; those with substantive analytical content will be published for the general readership. In the future, a monthly or bimonthly e-newsletter will also provide subscribers with updates on exhibitions and symposia in China. Academic mission aside, we hope that Chinese-art.com engenders a sense of community that goes beyond the virtual.