ART, ARTIST, AND IDENTIFICATION: LIU KANG AND NANYANG ART

Abstract

Attempting to engage with Chinese overseas identification from a new perspective, this study uses a legendary Chinese Singaporean artist Liu Kang’s identity-formation as a case study. A rather terra-incognita in the field, the roles of Chinese overseas artists as both agents and subjects of cultural change have been largely neglected. Through exploring Liu Kang’s life and the formation of Nanyang Art, this study reveals a subtle process of identification change from Chinese to Overseas Chinese and Chinese Singaporean/Overseas was a result of the convergence of transnational cultural forces and turns of historical event. Simultaneously, it also sheds some light on the roles of art and artists in Singapore nation building project.