This exhibition is part of a research project, including a book published in June 2016 by the University of Chicago press, into the experiences of Han people in Xinjiang, China. Most Han in Xinjiang have settled—or been settled by state decree— in the region since the Chinese Communist Party won the Civil War and took control of China in 1949. Since that time, the proportion of Han in the population has risen from 4% to at least 42%, and is now roughly equal to the other major population group in Xinjiang, Turkic Muslim Uyghurs. The massive project of cultural, economic, physical, and personal transformation that these migrants are involved in is rightly described as a “colonial endeavour.”

This photography exhibition is on display between 28 June - 8 July.

Venue: Photospace Gallery, ANU School of Art, Level 2 (Directly upstairs from Childers St entrance). 2 Childers St, Acton ACT 2601

There will also be a Double Book Launch on 5 July from 3:30pm.

From Village to City: Social Transformation in a Chinese County Seat by Professor Andrew Kipnis launched by Professor Jonathan Unger and Dr Assa Doron.

Oil and Water: Being Han in Xinjiang by Dr Thomas Cliff launched by Professor Martyn Jolly and Professor Stephanie Hemelryk-Donald.

Sponsoring Organisations

The Australian Research Council

The School of Culture, History and Language, ANU

The Department of Political and Social Change, ANU

Inkjet Research Laboratory, ANU School of Art