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PICTURING CHINA
January 3rd – 13th April 2008

A Photographic glimpse at the history of China, this exhibition showcases images of life in China before 1950. Many of the photographs have been in the possession of families or descendants of Chinese and British men and women who formerly lived there. Lodged away in attics and cupboards, these images include snapshots of social life, scenes of everyday Chinese life, and records of momentous political events. They now form a unique virtual archive for China, where wars and revolutions inflicted great damage on the sites and ways of life recorded and destroyed much of the historic visual records.

The ‘Historical Photographs of China’ team at the University of Bristol has been sourcing and digitising such archives of images, and placing them online as a public resource; (http://chp.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr). They provide a glimpse of the lost Chinese past and telling evidence of the complex intimacy of British relations with China before 1950.

- ENDS-

12 Bennett Street
Bath
BA1 2QJ
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