Hung Liu, Chinese American (1948–2021). We Have Been Naught We Shall Be All, 2007. Oil paint on canvas, Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum (2010.474A-C)

The DAM as a Platform for Understanding AAPI History and Cultures

Hung Liu, Chinese American (1948–2021). We Have Been Naught We Shall Be All, 2007. Oil paint on canvas, Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum (2010.474A-C)

arts of Asia gallery

Arts of Asia galleries at the Denver Art Museum, Martin Building 5th floor.

Uprooted by Shahzia Sikander

Shahzia Sikander, Pakistani-American (1969-). Uprooted, 1995. Watercolor, vegetable colors, and dry pigments on wasli paper. Gift of Aliya, Denver Art Museum (2022.327)

In addition, the museum displays work by contemporary AAPI artists who reinterpret their own traditions and demonstrate them in twenty-first-century contexts. One example is a Pakistan-born artist, Shahzia Sikander (born in 1969) whose work Uprooted (1995) the museum recently acquired and has on display in the arts of Asia galleries. In this work Sikander brings traditional and historical South Asian practice into dialogue with contemporary international art practices. Her works, including the two artworks in the museum collection, investigate gender roles and sexuality, cultural identity, racial narratives, as well as colonial and postcolonial histories.

Another example is the renowned contemporary Chinese American artist, Hung Liu (1948–2021), who integrated her memories and life in China as well as her immigrant experiences in her work. She also infused these with her various identities as an Asian, woman, American, and artist. Liu’s We Have Been Naught We Shall Be All (shown at the top) will be in the DAM’s newly reinstalled modern and contemporary art galleries that open to the public May 14. Rory Padeken, Vicki and Kent Logan Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, wrote for the label in the gallery, “Hung Liu based this painting on the 1949 propaganda film Daughters of China, in which Chinese women soldiers resist capture by the Japanese army by drowning themselves in a river. Liu memorializes this heroic yet tragic tale through veils of dripping linseed oil that evoke the haziness of memory. The title is a lyric from the political anthem ‘The Internationale,’ which was sung by Tiananmen Square protestors in 1989.” (You also can read Rory’s memoriam about Liu shortly after her passing.)

Artworks in museums are great resources to learn about people’s history and cultures, including those from Asia and the Pacific Islands. When looking at the numerous artworks by AAPI artists of the past and present across many galleries in the museum, we hope visitors will be aware that the term “AAPI” is quite ambiguous. This part of the world includes more than 100 languages and 50 distinct ethnic groups, not to mention a vast array of different cultures and traditions. It feels important to recognize the diversity of the people and culture we collectively refer to as AAPI to help visitors understand and appreciate the artworks on view and the histories they represent. This is one of the great powers of visual arts—helping people feel connected to others and to the world and promoting tolerance, awareness, and appreciation.