British Museum's 'China's Hidden Century' Criticized for Colonial Gaze

A review of 'China's Hidden Century' at the British Museum (through 8 October) argues the exhibition fails to escape the colonial gaze despite aiming to celebrate Qing dynasty artistic treasures from 1762 to 1912. The show begins with an 1800 copy of a 1767 map depicting Eurasia from a southerly aerial perspective, reflecting Qing ambitions. It challenges normative histories of decline by highlighting resilience in culture, including new publications like Dianshizhai Pictorial, Peking opera, and new year's prints. However, the review criticizes the display for offering exotic visual pleasure akin to 19th-century Western curiosity stores, and for failing to address problematic collecting histories. For instance, Victor Sassoon's collection of Chinese ivory, donated in 2018, stems from opium trade wealth, yet labels omit this. A kingfisher-feather screen purchased by the V&A after the 1867 Paris Exposition, where Qing did not participate, is presented without context of colonial looting. The exhibition also faced scandal when poet Yilin Wang's translation of Qiu Jin's poem was used without credit. The review concludes that the endeavor appears unintentionally ironic, as the British Museum elsewhere displays decontextualized objects like a Rapa Nui head.