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In our time

Four decades of art from China and beyond – the Geoff Raby Collection

Bendigo Art Gallery, 20 Aug 2022 to 19 Feb 2023

More than 40 artists  
Curator: Bala Starr. Coordinating curator: Lauren Ellis, Bendigo Art Gallery

Over a 35-year period beginning in the mid-1980s, Australian economist and diplomat Dr Geoff Raby AO assembled a vibrant trove of works by more than 75 artists working in China and in Australia, as members of the Chinese diaspora. Comprising 174 objects, the Geoff Raby Collection was donated to La Trobe University in 2019.

In our time is the inaugural exhibition of selected works from this collection, featuring nearly 70 artworks presented at Bendigo Art Gallery. Through art imbued variously with humour, fantasy and sarcasm, the collection addresses diverse themes ranging from urban life, Chinese philosophy and cultural difference to social justice, human rights and nationhood. The represented artists work in media including painting, photography, drawing, ceramics, sculpture and textiles.

Geoff Raby is a committed art collector whose acquisitions reflect both his sociability and his role as a diplomatic mediator. He belongs to a group of collectors in Asia whose friendships and global networks changed the course of regional art histories. By enlarging the reach of contemporary artists’ practices beyond independent studios and private galleries, these individuals often fast-tracked emerging artists’ careers.

In our time explores diverse styles and artistic technologies. The exhibition maps developments in contemporary art practice in the context of changing political ideologies, social conditions and cultural activities in China and Australia. The La Trobe University Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art records a dynamic period of Chinese history, when artists were responding to the economic and cultural opening-up of the country while navigating its reforms. The exhibition takes on a heightened significance at a time when rising geopolitical tensions between China and the West have placed a premium on soft power, cooperation and cross-cultural understanding.

Read more about key works in the Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art through commissioned texts by young scholars and writers Shanti Shea An, Soo-Min Shim, Genevieve Trail and Bianca Winatapurti.

Image: Rose Wong, Cut into, 2016 (foreground), fibreglass, wood, resin; Bendigo Art Gallery. Photo: Leon Schoots

Image gallery

  • Guan Wei, 'Water view no. 15', 2011, synthetic polymer paint on canvas. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Guan Wei. Courtesy the artist, ARC ONE Gallery and Martin Browne Fine Art. Photo: Jia De
    Guan Wei, 'Water view no. 15', 2011, synthetic polymer paint on canvas. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Guan Wei. Courtesy the artist, ARC ONE Gallery and Martin Browne Fine Art. Photo: Jia De
  • Guo Jian, ‘The cast and the crew’, 2009, synthetic polymer paint on canvas. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Guo Jian. Courtesy the artist and ARC ONE Gallery. Photo: Jia De
    Guo Jian, ‘The cast and the crew’, 2009, synthetic polymer paint on canvas. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Guo Jian. Courtesy the artist and ARC ONE Gallery. Photo: Jia De
  • Xiao Lu, ‘Dialogue’, 2004, photographic print on aluminium. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Xiao Lu. Photo: Jia De
    Xiao Lu, ‘Dialogue’, 2004, photographic print on aluminium. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Xiao Lu. Photo: Jia De
  • Xu Zhongmin, ‘Box no. 3’, 2017, mixed media, electrical components. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Xu Zhongmin. Photo: Jia De
    Xu Zhongmin, ‘Box no. 3’, 2017, mixed media, electrical components. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Xu Zhongmin. Photo: Jia De
  • Li Dapeng, ‘Painter’, 2007, oil on canvas. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019 © Li Dapeng. Photo: Jia De
    Li Dapeng, ‘Painter’, 2007, oil on canvas. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019 © Li Dapeng. Photo: Jia De
  • Aniwar Mamat, ‘Nursing a pile of old memories and exhausted feelings: how you confront white, blue, yellow kashagar wool’, 2014, dyed and undyed lamb's wool (felt). La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Aniwar Mamat. Photo: Jia De
    Aniwar Mamat, ‘Nursing a pile of old memories and exhausted feelings: how you confront white, blue, yellow kashagar wool’, 2014, dyed and undyed lamb's wool (felt). La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Aniwar Mamat. Photo: Jia De
  • Ah Xian, ‘“Stop” from the series “Sense of security”’, 1985, oil on canvas. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Ah Xian. Photo: Jia De
    Ah Xian, ‘“Stop” from the series “Sense of security”’, 1985, oil on canvas. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Ah Xian. Photo: Jia De
  • Jian Jun Xi, ‘Kiss earth’, 2014, bronze. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Jian Jun Xi. Photo: Jia De
    Jian Jun Xi, ‘Kiss earth’, 2014, bronze. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Jian Jun Xi. Photo: Jia De
  • Li Jin, ‘Sex is nothing, nothingness is sex’, 2006, ink and colour on xuan paper. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Li Jin. Photo: Jia De
    Li Jin, ‘Sex is nothing, nothingness is sex’, 2006, ink and colour on xuan paper. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Li Jin. Photo: Jia De
  • Rose Wong, ‘Cut into’, 2017, fibreglass, wood, resin. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Rose Wong. Photo: Jia De
    Rose Wong, ‘Cut into’, 2017, fibreglass, wood, resin. La Trobe University, Geoff Raby Collection of Chinese Art. Donated by Dr Geoff Raby AO through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2019. © Rose Wong. Photo: Jia De