Chinese Artists Shi Lu and Zhao Wangyun's Cultural Diplomacy in Maoist Era Explored

During the mid-1950s, China engaged in cultural exchanges with Third World nations as part of a political strategy to counter Soviet and Western influence. Artists Shi Lu (1919–1982) and Zhao Wangyun (1907–1977) from Xi'an traveled to India and Egypt as cultural attachés, fostering connections with decolonizing regions. Their experiences abroad inspired a shift toward indigenous Chinese art forms, particularly ink painting, rejecting Euro-American modernism. This movement aligned with global postwar efforts among non-Western artists to assert political independence through artistic autonomy and national styles. The article, published on June 18, 2019, by Yang Wang on ARTMargins Online, highlights this underrecognized aspect of Maoist-era art, emphasizing how contact with the Third World shaped artistic and theoretical developments. Content is available via MIT Press under subscription-only access.