SUGANDHA TANDON

Sugandha Tandon was a Research Assistant at the Institute of Chinese Studies. Her research lies in exploring the relationship between art and politics in Mao’s period (1949-1976). She is also interested in the study of history propaganda in China, museum studies as cultural institutions, and the generation of knowledge systems around exhibitions. Sugandha received her master's in history of art and appreciation from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Her master's dissertation, 'Exploration of Chinese Discourse in Aesthetics and Politics,' which explored the social and cultural history of the Mao period, prompted her to undertake studies which are aligned with her research interests. She is currently enrolled in an integrated MPhil-PhD program at Jawaharlal Nehru University, where she has just submitted her M.Phil. dissertation, entitled "Making of Chinese Political Propaganda Posters (1949-76)." She is working on her PhD proposal, which focuses on the visual culture during the Mao period- focusing on art production, and the histories of its collection and exhibition (in Shanghai, Hongkong and the US).

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Visualising Socialist Realism in Xuānchuán huà (1949-1976)
07 Jul 2023

The artworks produced during the Mao period (1949-1976) are ubiquitously seen as just propaganda, with complete condensation of the artist's position, accompanying practices or institutional spaces.