Other Histories: Guan Wei's Fable for a Contemporary World

Guan Wei is an artist of our times. He was born in Beijing, migrated to Australia, and now lives and works in Sydney and Beijing. Other Histories was a major installation by Guan at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, in 2006–2007. The exhibition, inspired by the voyages of Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He (1371–1432) and the artist’s own journey of migration to Australia, combined large-scale mural paintings and museum objects, transforming the gallery into a floating poetic corridor in which history and memory, fact and fiction, are blurred.

This beautifully designed and illustrated book documenting the exhibition includes a statement and working drawings by Guan and essays by curator Claire Roberts; Geremie R. Barmé, a leading historian and Sinologist specializing in China’s cultural and intellectual history; and award-winning novelist Alexis Wright, a member of the Waanyi nation of the southern highlands of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

• Claire Roberts, Author