Curating China, with Manchester China Institute

What impact do blockbuster exhibitions about Chinese history have on public understanding and cultural debate?

In this talk, Jessica Harrison-Hall, Keeper of Asia at the British Museum, examines two major exhibition case studies: Ming: 50 Years that Changed China and China’s Hidden Century. Both projects emerged from large-scale, highly collaborative research funded by the UK Research and Innovation Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The session explores the different contexts in which these landmark exhibitions were conceived and presented, addressing the intense debates that surround how knowledge about China is represented in Britain. It considers the politics of curation, the responsibilities of the curator, and the wider cultural impact these projects have had.
By comparing exhibitions created a decade apart, Harrison-Hall reflects on their construction and legacy, and asks how narratives traditionally dominated by text can be challenged through material and visual culture. The talk invites critical discussion about interpretation, representation and the evolving role of museums in shaping historical understanding.

About the speaker
Jessica Harrison-Hall studied Chinese and Fine Art at the University of Edinburgh and completed her PhD at the University of East Anglia. She is Keeper of Asia and Curator of the Sir Percival David Foundation at the British Museum.

She has led two major Arts and Humanities Research Council–funded projects: one on early Ming courts with Craig Clunas and Yu-ping Luk; and another on cultural creativity in 19th-century China with Julia Lovell and Wenyuan Xin. These initiatives built extensive international research networks and resulted in the blockbuster exhibitions discussed in the talk. Harrison-Hall has authored and edited numerous publications on Ming and Qing material culture.