Voices of Matter: Transforming Xinjiang Elements in Contemporary Art to Counter Cultural Aphasia

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_8How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Contemporary Art; Xinjiang Elements; Cultural Aphasia

Abstract

This paper explores how contemporary art can address the predicament of “cultural aphasia” faced by Xinjiang’s culture through the pathway of the “voice of matter.” The research background is set within the global context where cultural homogenization and external narratives have simplified, fragmented, and obscured the inherent complexity and subjectivity of Xinjiang’s culture, leading to a crisis of representation. Employing a methodology that combines theoretical analysis with case studies, this research examines specific artistic practices, such as the mural Gathering at the Jade Pool and the bone painting The Soul of the Eastern Return. It demonstrates that by activating local materials, the body as a medium, and everyday objects, contemporary art can transcend hollow symbol stacking and othering narrative frameworks, allowing culture to return to its material essence for autonomous articulation. The study concludes that the “voice of matter” is not only an effective artistic strategy but also a cultural philosophy, offering a universally significant path for Xinjiang and other non-mainstream cultures to achieve self-expression and reconstruct narrative subjectivity in the contemporary era.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Xiyu Pan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
TI  - Voices of Matter: Transforming Xinjiang Elements in Contemporary Art to Counter Cultural Aphasia
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 73
EP  - 81
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_8
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_8
ID  - Pan2026
ER  -