Mi You - Böcker

How do geopolitical, economical, and socio-political upheavals impact the field of art todayThis monograph takes a look at how the increasing multipolarity of our world affects art. It is a diagnosis of the socio-political contexts that surround art and questions what the upheavals in geopolitics, economic and social policy mean for the field of art today. The text is divided into four sections. First, the phenomenon is conceptualized and theorized. This is followed by an in-depth examination of the interrelationships using documenta fifteen as a case study, an exhibition that can be seen as a crystallization point for current political shifts. This is followed by an in-depth reading of Chinese art policy, which oscillates between particularist and universalist claims, in order to arrive at the concluding section, which opens up a horizon of thought and experimentation that helps us to come to terms with the era of multipolarity.

The China Moment accompanies the eponymous research exhibition curated by Su Wei, Mi You, and Anna-Lisa Scherfose for the documenta Institut Kassel (January–March 2026). It examines Chinese contemporary art during the 1990s–2000s in dialogue with an equally vibrant intellectual history, foregrounding differing notions of individualism that mediate art’s relationship to the state, society, and public spheres. Bookended by the beginning and the subsequent unraveling of the golden era of globalization, this volume assembles essays, archives, and visual documentation to map both the convergent aspirations and mutual blind spots that structured this moment.