NEW BOOK by Alison Carroll: Soviet Socialist Realism and Art in the Asia-Pacific

[Michelle Antoinette]

Sharing news of an exciting new book publication by Alison Carroll, just out, on Soviet Socialist Realism in the Asia-Pacific... big congratulations Alison!

Alison has been an academic, critic, writer, curator and administrator of art exhibitions and artist exchanges with Asia for over 35 years and has much to share in this book.

From Alison, on the book: 

I have been thinking about the material for 50 years, as I say in the book's Preface, from when I first went to Moscow as a young woman before taking the train to Japan.  I watched gunfire between China and Russia from the train.  I got caught up in the story and its art then and have remained so.  People might think the imagery is something of the past but the image of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2021 (below, fig. 4.1 in the book), as well as so much art in Indonesia shows it remains central to many places today.

It is the first book of its kind, evaluating the impact of the Soviets across the countries of the East. It looks at the art in the USSR, Asia and Australia, with 70 illustrations, as well as the impact of Soviet arts practice,  from 1917 to today.  It says this work is both visually powerful and a part of the history of this region 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 (note the cover), the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and also Australia. 

Fig 4.1 

Here is the link to the preview at the Routledge website:

https://www.routledge.com/Soviet-Socialist-Realism-and-Art-in-the-Asia-Pacific/Carroll/p/book/9781032661308  

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