Scottish photographer John Thomson left a stunning visual record of nineteenth-century China in the waning days of the Qing Dynasty. Inspired by the museum’s fall exhibition China: Through the Lens of John Thomson (1868–1872), the museum's 2015 fall symposium will feature presentations by a panel of international photography and textile scholars. The talks will examine how Thomson’s images and period fashions have had lasting impact on how China is pictured today. 

Symposium Presentations

Saturday, November 7, 2015
GW Media and Public Affairs Building
805 21st Street, NW
9 AM to 5 PM

Power Into Play: Theater and Qing Court Culture
Liana Chen, Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, the George Washington University

Through China With a Camera
Nick Pearce, Sir John Richmond Chair of Fine Art, University of Glasgow

Beyond John Thomson: Earlier Photographic Studios in China
Tong Bingxue, Author and Private Collector, Beijing

Daily Dress in Late Qing China: Spotting the Difference Between Manchu and Han
Antonia Finnane, Professor of History in the School of Historical Studies, University of Melbourne

Ribbons, Borders, and Trimmings: Fashionable Garments and Accessories in John Thomson’s China
Rachel Silberstein, Lecturer, History of Art and Visual Culture, Rhode Island School of Design

Roundtable discussion
Moderated by exhibition curators Betty Yao, MBE, managing director at Credential International Arts Management; and Lee Talbot, curator at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum.

Find out more here.