Book Talk: The East is Red? Soviet Socialist Realism and Art in the Asia-Pacific

How ‘red’ has the art of the Asia-Pacific been over the last 100 years? The new book, Soviet Socialist Realism and Art in the Asia Pacific, evaluates the impact of the Soviets across the countries of this region. It says this work is both visually powerful and a part of the history of the Asia Pacific which is frequently overlooked or underestimated. It asks why - and gives reasons. The book is about art, but within the context of political and cultural history, focused mainly on China, Vietnam, the two Koreas, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and also Australia. Singapore had an important place, especially in the 1950s. This is the first book to analyse this impact across our region.

This talk will summarise this history, explore why the usual initial response to the idea of Socialist Realism is dismissive, and put forward its many artistic and organisational achievements. It will argue that it needs greater acknowledgement and understanding.

Dr Alison Carroll has worked with art in Asia for many years, setting up and being inaugural director of the main arts exchange program between Australia and the countries of the region, Asialink Arts, in 1990. In the many years working in the region, she kept seeing art, both ‘socialist’ and ‘realist,’ that reflected what she had seen in the USSR in the 1970s. It intrigued her then and continued to do so. She is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Information on her many exhibitions, projects, films and publications on Australian, Asian and European art, are listed on www.alisoncarroll.net.