Yu-Wen Wu in Conversation with Sarah Laursen

Join Harvard Art Museums for a free discussion featuring interdisciplinary artist Yu-Wen Wu in conversation with Sarah Laursen, the Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art, on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Seating is limited. Registration is required and opens Sunday, Feb. 11, after 10am. Wu’s subjectivity as an immigrant is central to her artwork. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Wu immigrated to the United States at an early age. Her experiences have shaped her work in areas of migration, examining issues of displacement, assimilation and the shape of identity in a new country.

At the intersection of art, science, social and culture issues, and the natural world, Wu’s projects include large-scale drawings, site-specific video installations, community-engaged practices and public art. Her work has been exhibited and collected nationally and internationally, and she is the recipient of multiple awards, including the James and Audrey Foster Prize at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Wu’s handscroll "Walking to Taipei" was recently acquired by Harvard Art Museums and is on view for the first time, in an installation titled "Journeys," in Gallery 2600 Level 2.

Sarah Laursen oversees the Harvard Art Museums’ Chinese art collection as well as parts of the Korean and Central, South and Southeast Asian collections. She is a specialist in early medieval China, and her research interests include Chinese archaeology, digital humanities, technical art history, collecting history as well as contemporary Asian and Asian American art.