Research and Writing
Here are some recent publications, writing, and media. A list of my conference participation follows.
“Hybrid But Unequal: Three Museums Negotiating the Display of Islamic Art” in Cultural Identities in a Global World: Reframing Cultural Hybridity, edited by Roeland Goorts, Smadar Lavie, and Laura Popa, 2024.
LACMA, The Met, and The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha construct Islamic Art galleries at the same time. Why do they look so different?
“An Alien Echo at the Gwangju Biennale,” Momus, June 2023
“I am left uncertain about whether I should see this biennial as a missed opportunity for deeper periphery-to-periphery connections or whether this echo of the West is entirely predetermined—that it’s inevitable for Southern spirits and ancestors to arrive in Gwangju after associating with professional institutions in the North.”
“Contested Legitimacy: Western Media Reception to Art Museums in the Arabian Peninsula.” (Research article in preparation)
Western media commentary about museums in the Arabian Peninsula project existing insecurities about the status of art onto a presumably ‘blank slate.’ Can we globalize a social field that traditionally relies on exclusivity?
“Stop Guarding the Art,” Momus, October 2021
It’s not wholesome when established art museums invite their security staff to curate art; it is an artifact of a breach of trust.
Publications, Writing, Media
Zhang, X. Amy. 2024. “Hybrid But Unequal: Three Museums Negotiating the Display of Islamic Art” in Roeland Goorts, Smadar Lavie, Laura Popa (eds.) Cultural Identities in a Global World: Reframing Cultural Hybridity, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.
(In Preparation)
Zhang, X. Amy. “Contested Legitimacy: Western Media Reception to Art Museums in the Arabian Peninsula.”
2023
Zhang, X. Amy. “An Alien Echo at the Gwangju Biennale,” Momus, June 6, 2023, https://momus.ca/an-alien-echo-at-the-gwangju-biennale/.
2021
Zhang, X. Amy. “Stop Guarding the Art,” Momus, October 14, 2021, https://momus.ca/stop-guarding-the-art/
Reynolds, Ann. “Cultural Studies Student Expands Teaching Horizons at Mason Korea.” Interview with Amy Zhang, George Mason University College of Humanities and Social Sciences, https://chss.gmu.edu/articles/16422
Kiskaddon, Dustin and Amy Zhang, “Culture Section Mentorship Program: Reflections and Future Prospects,” ASA Culture Section Newsletter, vol. 34, no. 4, 2021, pp.9-11.
2018
Zhang, Amy, “Interview with Imre Szeman on ‘Petrocultures and the Energy Humanities,’” Cultural Studies Podcast, September 2018. https://culturalstudies.gmu.edu/articles/12615
2017
Zhang, Amy. “Interview with Liza Featherstone on ‘Focus Groups and the Culture of Consultation,’” Positions & Interventions Blog, November 2017. https://culturalstudies.gmu.edu/articles/12360
Selected Presentation and Conference Participation
(Scheduled August 2023)
Co-organizer panel on “Unwritten Insights into the Dissertation Publishing Process,” Culture Section of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA.
August 2022
Co-organizer, panel on “Culture in a (Post)Pandemic World,” Culture Section of the American Sociological Association, Los Angeles, CA
June 2021
“Hybridity in Form and Hybridity in Fact: Islamic Art Galleries in the Arabian Peninsula and the Euro-American West,” Cultural Identities in a Global World: Reframing Cultural Hybridity, International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture, Giessen, Germany (Remote Participation)
August 2020
“Globalizing a Universal Concept: Fine Art Museums in the Arabian Peninsula,” Regular Session on the Sociology of Culture, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting (Remote Participation)
May 2020
“What ‘Peripheral’ Art Museums do for Museums at the ‘Center’: Three Cases from Arabian Peninsula Museums,” Cultural Studies Association Annual Meeting (Remote Participation)
June 2019
“Museums of Fine Art in the Arabian Peninsula: Challenged by the Contradictory Demands of Globalization” at Museums in Arabia, Kings College London, London, UK
April 2019
“Globalizing the Louvre: Challenges for Inspiring ‘The Love of Art’” at Ruptures and Continuities: Historical Change in a Contested World, the New School for Social Research, New York, NY
May 2018
“Legitimacy and Art Museums in the Arabian Peninsula” at the Cultural Studies Association Annual Conference, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA
February 2018
Invited discussant to panel on Art in Middle Eastern Diplomacy at the College Art Association Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA
April 2017
Invited lecture on “Museum Development in the Arabian Peninsula” for undergraduate class, GLOA 101: Introduction to Globalization, George Mason University.
March 2017
“The Largest Prayer Wheel in the World: The Management of Tibetan Culture in Xiangelila, China” at Monumental Form/Memorial Time: A Graduate Symposium in the History and Practice of Art and Architecture, The University of Maryland, College Park, MD
October 2016
Co-organizer of Critiquing Culture Graduate Conference with plenary panel on “The Uses and Abuses of Neoliberalism,” George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
October 2015
Co-organizer of Critiquing Culture Graduate Conference with plenary panel on “Methodology in Cultural Studies,” George Mason University, Fairfax, VA