Jun Zhang awarded 2026 BACS Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis on China

Posted on Thursday 10 September 2026

Jun was awarded her PhD by the University of York in April 2026. Supervised by Professor Michael
White, her prize-winning thesis, Writing “Chineseness”: Pseudo-Chinese Characters in the Post-
Maoist Avant-Garde Art, examines pseudo-Chinese character practices in 1980s Chinese avant-
garde art. Focusing on artists including Xu Bing, Gu Wenda, and Wu Shanzhuan, the thesis explores
how inherited textual forms were reworked to engage critically with cultural authority, ideological
structures, and questions of identity in post-Mao China. It situates these practices within both
Chinese textual traditions and Maoist visual culture, demonstrating how artists trained under Maoist
institutions critically re-engaged with script at a moment of profound political and cultural transition.

The thesis makes a significant contribution to Chinese art history, visual culture, and Chinese Studies,
while engaging with broader debates on Chinese tradition, cultural identity, and the role of writing in
negotiating the relationship between culture and political authority. It demonstrates how avant-
garde artistic practices offer new insights into social and cultural transformation in post-Mao China.

Jun accepted the award at the Annual General Meeting during the BACS Annual Conference. The
recognition highlights the originality and interdisciplinary significance of her research, advancing
understanding of the role of language and textual experimentation in contemporary Chinese art and
demonstrating the value of visual art as a lens through which to study wider cultural, social, and
political change.

Congratulations to Jun on this outstanding achievement.