In order to extend the reach of Asian art historical study at the University of Chicago, the CAEA undertakes research projects and related exhibitions and works with new visual technologies for data gathering and resource sharing. Its projects are developing digital platforms for presenting information in new ways and producing new kinds of knowledge for the study of traditional visual culture in contemporary contexts.
Key Projects
Due to historical circumstances and the appeal of Asia in the international art market in the late nineteenth and early part of the twentieth century, countless East Asian works of art were taken from their historical places of origin and dispersed around the world. Modern digital and virtual reality technology offer possibilities for imaging, compiling, identifying, and recontextualizing these cultural artifacts. The CAEA conducts research on art and visual culture and creates databases of images, digital 3D models, and historical information that can be accessed on public websites. These projects involve the Steering Committee faculty members with Katherine Tsiang as supervisor and coordinator, and include research technology specialists at UChicago, as well as collaboration with international museums, universities, and cultural institutions. They are enabled largely with funding from outside the UChicago, including foundation grants and gifts.
Dispersed Chinese Art Digitization
Building on the digital imaging projects begun by the CAEA, a larger initiative, the Dispersed Chinese Art Digitization Project (DCADP) has been launched with generous funding from the Cyrus Tang Foundation. This collaborative project will draw on resources, faculty, and staff from Xi’an Jiaotong University and the University of Chicago and extend to other institutions through international collaborative projects, conferences, and scholarly exchange.
Ambitious in scale and scope, a major goal is the acquisition, processing, and archiving of digital data on traditional Chinese arts to be acquired both in China and outside China. The CAEA will be the principal project coordinator and creator and administrator of a digital database of Chinese artworks in museums around the world that will be based at the University of Chicago. The project goals also include creation of virtual exhibitions, websites, and virtual restorations of cultural sites in China with the cooperation of institutions inside China that manage and conserve the sites.
The first project from the DCADP initiative is the Zhihua Temple Digital Restoration—visit the project website here.