20世纪下半叶新加坡艺术在地化实践与文脉传承：以范昌乾为例
This Seminar will be Conducted in Mandarin.
Speaker: Assoc Prof Zang Zhuomin (School of Art and Design, Taizhou University)
Chairperson: Assoc Prof Yow Cheun Hoe (School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University)
Abstract：
In the second half of the twentieth century in Singapore, how was the tradition of Chinese literati painting transformed within a tropical cultural environment? This seminar centers on a pivotal figure in Singapore’s art history, Fan Chang Tien, to examine how he reinterpreted the classical ink tradition by integrating it with visual elements associated with the Nanyang. Through this synthesis, he enacted a conscious and self-reflexive process of artistic localization within a diasporic context. At the individual level, this process entailed a shift in subjectivity—from a migrant “guest” from the South to an artist firmly grounded in the local milieu. At the level of cultural transmission, Fan extended this localized transformation of ink aesthetics through pedagogy and intercultural engagement, transmitting a recontextualized literati spirit to subsequent generations. In doing so, he enabled its continuity and reinvention within a new artistic and social framework. This case illuminates the dual function of art in a plural immigrant society. On the one hand, it operates as a medium for negotiating and articulating individual identity; on the other, it contributes to the formation of collective belonging within the Chinese community. Fan Chang Tien’s practice suggests that art in migratory societies should not be understood merely as cultural transplantation, but rather as an active and generative process of cultural reconstruction—one that ultimately becomes integral to the imagining of national culture.
在20世纪下半叶的新加坡，来自中国的文人画传统如何在热带环境中发生转变？本报告聚焦于新加坡艺术史上的关键人物范昌乾，探讨其如何将这一笔墨传统与南洋风情的视觉元素巧妙融合，在异乡完成一种主动的“在地化”艺术实践。这一过程首先体现为个体层面的身份转变——从南来之“客”到扎根本土的艺术主体；其次延伸至传承层面，范昌乾通过教学和文化交流，将这种经过在地转化的笔墨精神传递给本土后学，使其在新的艺术语境中得以延续与重构。 这一案例深刻揭示了艺术在多元移民社会中的双重功能：既是个体身份认同的表达与调适，也是华人群体集体归属感的营造方式。范昌乾的实践提示我们，迁移社会中的艺术从来不只是文化移植，更是一种积极的文化建构，并由此成为国家文化想象不可或缺的组成部分。