This event is co-organized by the CILS of HKU Faculty of Law, Center for the Study of Globalization and Cultures (CSGC) of HKU, and the School of Humanities of HKU Faculty of Arts.
Date: October 23, 2025 (Thursday)
Time: 4pm-5pm
Venue: Room 723, 7/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong
Speaker: Dr. Marta Rosa Bisceglia, Adjunct Professor and Research Fellow, University of Bologna
The seminar will begin with a presentation of the European research project WRITE – New Forms of Calligraphy in China: A Contemporary Culture Mirror (国书法新形式：当代文化之镜, PI Prof A Iezzi). The project investigates how emerging forms of calligraphy in contemporary China are reshaping Chinese cultural identity. At its core, WRITE undertakes the first systematic analysis of these innovative artistic practices. By creating a comprehensive dataset of artworks and adopting a media-based categorization, the project explores the development of new forms of calligraphy across multiple creative domains, including fine and contemporary art, decorative and applied arts, architecture, performing arts, and graffiti art.
Within this broader framework, the seminar will focus on graffiti as one of the most dynamic and experimental areas where calligraphy is being redefined. Graffiti, a global art movement in constant evolution, emerged in China only in the mid-1990s. Despite being relatively underexplored, it has developed into a remarkably vibrant phenomenon, giving voice and vitality to the anonymous neighborhoods of the country’s vast metropolises. Chinese graffiti occupies a liminal space between legality and illegality, free street expression and commercial production, state endorsement and social critique, revealing both its unique local character and the complex cultural landscape of contemporary China.
In this context, Dr Bisceglia, a specialist in Chinese graffiti, a member of the WRITE project, and co-author of the book Graffiti in China, will advance the discussion by presenting her most recent research on the intersections between calligraphy and graffiti in China, and the emerging new era of Chinese graffiti.
Discussant: Koon Yeewan, Associate Professor, Chair of Department of Art History, and Associate Dean (Global), The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Arts
Chair: Shane Chalmers, Assistant Professor, The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law
To register, please go to https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_regform.aspx?guest=Y&UEID=103400.
For inquiries, please contact Ms. Grace Chan at / 3917 4727.
To learn more about The Centre for Interdisciplinary Legal Studies (CILS), please go to https://cils.law.hku.hk/.