Chinese Contributions to Spanish Culture: An Overview

Abstract

In Spain, a presence of Chinese immigrants began to be noted in the 20th century, but their numbers were not significant until the 21st. From the beginning, their presence had an impact on Spanish culture and on the mainstream popular imaginary of what we might call lo chino (all things Chinese). The agency of Chinese immigrants as cultural producers has run a parallel course to the appropriation of China and Chinese culture by local Spaniards in their own production. The first Chinese people present on the Spanish cultural scene were acrobats in various Chinese circuses during the first part of the 20th century. On another front, a dominantly Taiwanese population was present in Spain by the 1980s, and it included artists who organized several painting exhibitions. The early 21st century saw a significant increase in both the size and the heterogeneity of the Chinese population. The Chinese population was notably productive in various cultural fields. The contributions of lo chino to Spanish culture have evolved over time, moving from a clear identification with Chinese culture to hybrid multicultural works, as well as cultural products that do not contain any ethnic Chinese elements. These artists traverse this cultural continuum and position their art in ambivalent and dialectic ways as they respond to Spain’s shifting sociopolitical and economic winds. These Chinese cultural workers also react to the imaginary of lo chino as reflected in autochthonous non-Chinese cultural products. As might be expected, their work also varies depending on their age, gender, class, and ethnicity.