Histories, tactility and material culture: Studies on Chinese Belt Toggles
Curators, historians, and scientists will be brought together to introduce the understudied cultural objects of the Chinese belt toggle, known as zhuizi (坠子). Similar to their better-known Japanese counterparts, netsuke, these small carved ornaments offer a rare glimpse into everyday life in early modern China.
Toggles were a common feature of traditional Chinese garments from the 17th century but were scarcely collected. More than personal accessories, toggles were wearable symbols, embodying Chinese folk traditions and cultural beliefs. The exhibition Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature, a collaboration between the Powerhouse Museum and Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney, reveals one of the world’s largest collections of these extraordinary objects.
The associated publication, Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature, co-published with Power Publications and edited by the exhibition’s curators, introduces these unique objects to a broader audience for the first time, pairing academic enquiry with detailed photographic documentation of the exhibition and catalogue of 80 toggles.
This conversation between editors and authors takes its lead from the book, combining historical, curatorial and scientific perspectives to unlock the mysteries of the Chinese toggle—an everyday object long overlooked, but uniquely able to speak to 300 years of Chinese culture and across all levels of society.
This panel will be chaired by Dr Paul Donnelly, the Deputy Director of the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
About the panellists
Shuxia Chen joined the Chau Chak Wing Museum as its inaugural curator for the China Gallery in 2019. She holds a PhD from the Australian National University and has been curating, publishing and teaching Asian art nationally and internationally for over a decade.
Min-Jung Kim is Curator of Asian Arts at the Powerhouse Museum since 2007. During this time, she has been responsible for many collection displays and exhibitions including the highly acclaimed Five Hundred Arhats at Changnyeongsa Temple (2021).
Claire Roberts is an art historian with an interest in modern and contemporary Chinese art. She is Professor of Art History in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.
Elizabeth Carter is Facility Manager, Vibrational Spectroscopy with Sydney Analytical at the University of Sydney. She has wide research interests including microplastics, natural glasses (obsidian, tektites, fulgurites), hard and soft biological materials (cells, tissues, teeth, hair, wool) and cultural heritage objects.
This event is co-presented by the Power Institute, the Powerhouse Museum, and Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney.
Header image: Chinese Toggles: Culture in Miniature