The Hong Kong Society of Humanity: A Constellation of Modern Chinese Artists

In the second half of 1946, as the Nationalist government intensified its suppression of left-wing art and literature, many leading figures in Chinese cartooning and woodcut printmaking relocated to Hong Kong. It was there that Huang Xinbo founded the Society of Humanity, bringing together a group of like-minded artists. To support the organisation’s activities, he invited Fu Luofei, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University who had studied in Italy, and the renowned cartoonist Zhang Guangyu to serve successively as its president.

Over the following years, the Society of Humanity expanded rapidly, developing into a vibrant community of wartime left-wing modern artists from diverse artistic backgrounds and disciplines. Its membership eventually grew to fifty-five artists.

Occupying a pivotal position between the final chapter of Republican-era Chinese art and the beginning of the art history of the People’s Republic of China, the significance of the Society of Humanity can hardly be overstated.

This lecture features Huang Yuan, daughter of Huang Xinbo, who will draw on her unique perspective as both a witness to this history and a distinguished scholar to revisit the remarkable story of the Society of Humanity.