Timed to coincide with the Freer and Sackler exhibition POWER | PLAY China’s Empress Dowager (photographs of the Empress Dowager Cixi, dating from c.1903), the conference will focus on the subject of imperial portraiture across Asia and the Middle East during the advent of photography in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

While the exhibition itself addresses the unique circumstances and intention of the Cixi photographs, the conference will provide an opportunity for a broader comparative analysis of the engagement with photography in the context of portraiture in ruling courts across Asia.

Invited speakers include
Ali Behdad, John Clark, Deepali Dewan, Holly Edwards, Maki Fukoka, Luke Gartlan, Yi Gu, Yuhang Li, Hyung Il Pai, Maurizio Peleggi, Claire Roberts, Mary Roberts, Roberta Wue and Peng Yingchen.

A full conference program and other information will be available in late summer. Stay tuned!