Meditative Retreat by Streams and Mountains: New Reflections on Chinese Painting and Visual Culture

This conference brings together the most recent research on Chinese painting, focusing on its intersections with image-making practices, ritual traditions, sensory experience, social dynamics, and cross-cultural exchange.

Image Credit: Detail from Buddhist Retreat by Stream and Mountains, Juran (Chinese, active 960–985), Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katharine Holden Thayer 1959.348.

April 3-5, 2026

501 Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University, 1190 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027.

Please use the registration link to reserve a spot: https://chinesepaintingatcolumbia.eventbrite.com

Friday, April 3, 2026

1:00 pm Registration & coffee

1:30 pm Welcome Remarks by Matthew McKelway

1:45 pm. Keynote Talk: Alfreda Murck

2:45-5:15 pm. Panel 1
      Michelle C. Wang (Georgetown University)
      Bo Sun (National Museum of China)
      Ching-Ling Wang (Rijksmuseum)
      Shih-shan Susan Huang (Rice University)
      Discussant 

5:15 pm. Q&A

5:45-7 pm. Reception and dinner for all attendees 

 

Saturday, April 4, 2026

9:00 am. Registration & coffee

9:30 am. Greetings by Yi-bang Li

9:30 am-12:00 pm. Panel 2
      Masaaki Itakura (Tokyo University)
      Pinyan Zhu (Emory University)
      Yunru Chen (National Taiwan University)
      Fei Deng (Fudan University)
      Discussant

12:00 pm. Q&A

12:30 pm. Lunch

2:00-4:30 pm. Panel 3
      Jeehee Hong (McGill University)
      Michael Hatch (Trinity College)
      Chen Liu (Peking University)
      Jennifer Purtle (University of Toronto)
      Discussant

4:30 pm. Q&A

5:30 pm. Dinner for speakers and discussants off campus

5:30 pm. Reception for student attendees (location TBD near campus)

 

Sunday, April 5th, 2026

9:30 am. Registration & coffee

10:00 am. Greetings by Jin Xu

10:15 am-12:00 pm. Panel 4
      Haruka Takenami (Kyoto University of Fine Arts)
      Yu-chih Lai (Academia Sinica)
      Maromitsu Tsukamoto (Tokyo University)
      Discussant

12:00 pm. Q&A

12:30 pm Lunch

2:00-3:45 pm. Panel 5
      Xiaofeng Huang (Central Academy of Fine Arts)
      Meng Zhao (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
      Lei Xue (Oregon State University)
      Discussant

3:45 pm. Q&A

4:30 pm. Closing remarks and introducing Noriko Miyazaki, Matthew McKelway

4:45 pm. Keynote Talk: Noriko Miyazaki

5:45 pm. Reception for all attendees