Li Xianting after having spoken to UWA students, 2024
photo by Tami Xiang
Guan Kan 观看 fosters discussions on Chinese contemporary art by dwelling into and researching the art and artists in China and the diaspora. Beginning at the University of Western Australia, research groups of art historians have engaged with contemporary artists in their studios and galleries; the results of these encounters are detailed throughout this journal.
Guan Kan 观看 is grateful to the University of Western Australia’s School of Design and the UWA Alumni Fund for their generous help in establishing the Journal, as well as to Paris Letteau and Eve Sullivan for their advice. We would also like to acknowledge Tami Xiang for her tireless and precise translations of interviews and texts and Jemma Kovacic Romanova for her tireless work
We welcome contributions to the journal, however submissions will only be considered provided they are both referenced and are illustrated with images, in addition to being written in the spirit of the Journal.
Tami Xiang, Darren Jorgensen, Sam Beard, Rosie Anda, Kye Fisher, Felicity Ostergaard, William Bromage and Alice Ho - editors.
In the spirit of reconciliation Guan Kan 观看 acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Sovereignty was never ceded and it always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.
Meet the Team
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Tami Xiang
Based in Perth, Tami Xiang is a Chinese-Australian artist, curator and scholar. She received a Masters of Fine Arts and PhD at the University of Western Australia. Tami’s work has been exhibited in Mainland China, Australia, France, Taiwan and the United States of America, and she has been published in the New York Times, Eye of Photography (France) and Artlink (Australia)
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Darren Jorgensen
Darren Jorgensen researches indigenous Australian art, having recently published Clyma Est Mort (Bloomsbury 2023), and has co-curated the 2023 exhibition of Beijing Realism with Tami Xiang as part of the Perth Festival. Jorgensen regularly writes for Dispatch Review, as well as Artlink. His writing on Australian art has been featured in Art Bulletin, Aboriginal History, History Australia, Third Text and World Art.
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Sam Beard
Sam Beard lives on Whadjuk country and spends much of his time writing about art. He holds degrees in visual art, design, and art history. Beard has worked for several galleries and arts organisations, and is the co-founder of Dispatch Review, Perth’s leading art review.
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Alice Ho
Alice Ho currently studies a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology, minoring in Curatorial Studies. She holds an avid interest in Chinese art and culture, cultivated from her cultural roots and personal travel.
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Kye Fisher
Kye Fisher holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia and currently works within UWA’s research portfolio. Kye's interest in Chinese contemporary art is based in his close reading of contemporary theory. He has a keen interest in Chinese art and music, inspired by his research trip to China.
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Felicity Ostergaard
Felicity Ostergaard is currently pursuing a Batchelor of Arts, majoring in Archaeology, with a minor in Curatorial Studies. Her interest in Chinese Contemporary art stems from her own performance art practise as well as modes of displaying site specific interventions.
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William Bromage
William Bromage is in his third year of his undergraduate, studying both History and Archaeology at the University of Western Australia. He has a keen interest in Indigenous rock art and lithics as well as Chinese history and contemporary art.
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Rosie Anda
Rosie Anda studies a Bachelor of Arts in History of Art, Gender Studies and Curatorial Studies at the University of Western Australia. She has a keen interest in Chinese contemporary art and culture.
Get in touch with Guan Kan 观看
Photograph of Tami Xiang’s, Lucky 88, 2019. Featured in the Beijing Realism Exhibition.