China in the 1920s and 30s was an era of new beginnings, technical innovations and rapid social change. The exhibition “Freshly Printed from the Twenties — Insights into China’s Modernism” at the Museum am Rothenbaum MARKK invites visitors to experience this eventful period through the lens of modern printmaking. After the fall of the empire in 1911, a culture flooded with media and images emerged in China that was characterised by inventiveness. The modern printing industry not only revolutionised production, but also had a lasting impact on culture and communication. Particularly exciting: many of the objects in the exhibition came to Hamburg as part of one of the earliest Chinese-German research co-operations between 1927 and 1932.
The show impressively demonstrates how new printing processes, fashion trends and visual forms of expression influenced a generation and how mass production became the driving force behind art, commerce and communication. It invites visitors to discover the experimental spirit of this period, in which a new visual language emerged that had an impact far beyond the art world. At the same time, an important chapter of transcultural museum history is made visible, which continues to have an impact at MARKK today and invites visitors to reflect on global exchange and the lasting impulses of Chinese modernism.
