Speaker
Prof. Stephen Whiteman
Professor of the Art and Architecture of China
The Courtauld Institute of Art (UK),
Co-Editor-in-Chief, The Art Bulletin, and
Trustee, Association for Art History

Stephen Whiteman’s research explores the intersections of landscape, identity, and experience in early modern and modern China. He is Professor of the Art and Architecture of China at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London and currently serves at the Coeditor-in-Chief of The Art Bulletin.

Event Details
This talk explores the Virtual Mountain Estate (VME) project, considering how 3D modelling and XR technologies can help critically reconstruct cultural landscapes. Centred on the Qing imperial park-palace of Bishu shanzhuang 避暑山莊—the Mountain Estate to Escape the Summer Heat—around 1713, VME draws upon diverse sources and iterative 3D modelling to integrate sensory, spatial, and atmospheric cues into a dynamic, immersive environment for research and scholarly dissemination.. Deepening our appreciation of cultural landscapes as multisensory worlds shaped by text, place, and subjective perception, this method foregrounds the subjective and ephemeral qualities of historical landscapes, emphasising multivalence rather than any definitive reconstruction.

Registration Link: https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13729068

Event Page: https://rih.cuhk.edu.hk/news-and-events/dhi21apr2026/

Enquires
rihs@cuhk.edu.hk