Title: Animation Thinks: A Story of Media Entanglements in China

Speaker: Professor Panpan Yang, University of London, UK

Moderator: Professor K.T. Wong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HK

Format: 40-50 minutes’ lecture, followed by around 30 minutes’ Q & A 

Time: 4:30-6:00pm, Dec 1, 2026 (Tuesday, Hong Kong Time)

Zoom ID: 945 2888 4098

Password: 146170

Zoom Link: https://hkust.zoom.us/j/94528884098?pwd=WysMr9B0VHbjVNSM7uj8m0qjAf3PJf.1   

ABSTRACT:

How does animation think? What happens when animation falls in love with other art forms? These are the two guiding questions of the newly published academic monograph Animation Thinks: A Story of Media Entanglements in China (University of California Press, 2026). In this talk, Dr. Panpan Yang traces the perplexing permutations and ramifications of a distinct pattern of imagination in Chinese animation—the remediation of photography, painting, calligraphy, and porcelain. She proposes a form of trans-spatial thinking to examine contemporary Chinese animation: tracing, documenting, and explaining how the meaning of a work shifts as it moves in and out of the film industry, the sphere of contemporary art, and other spaces. The talk also shows how the terrain of contemporary art and media theories has been transformed by one of its newest inhabitants, Chinese animation, stretching our thinking about the spatial locatedness of theories and theorization. This lecture includes material from the published book, material cut during the publication process, rarely seen film clips, untold stories behind the writing of the monograph, and reflections on the prospects and future directions of the rapidly emerging field of Chinese animation studies.

Bio: 

Dr Panpan Yang is currently an Assistant Professor in the arts and visual cultures of modern China at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She holds a BA from Peking University, an MA from New York University, and a PhD from the University of Chicago. From 2023 to 2025, she was the Principal Investigator of the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded research project Calligraphic Imagination in Contemporary Chinese Art and Emergent Media. Her research has also been supported by the Getty Foundation, the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, the Sino-British Fellowship Trust, and others. Her recent publications have appeared in Archives of Asian Art, Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, Journal of Chinese Cinemas, and Journal of e-media Studies, among others. She has edited a special issue of Journal of Chinese Cinemas on the theme of the digital humanities and co-edited a special issue of Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art on the theme of the moving image, both published in 2025. Her writings on Chinese animation have received the Domitor Essay Award and an Honorable Mention from the Association for Chinese Animation Studies. Her current research centers on how technological transformations, especially generative AI, shape literary and artistic practices, our relationships with cultural heritage, and the conditions under which knowledge becomes possible.