Imperialism, Architecture, and Oberlin College:
​A Brief History of the "Golden Temple" 
Kevin Greenwood, PhD
4 January, 2025         
 ​9:30 am - 11:00 am, PT
AN ONLINE PRESENTATION
This brief presentation will explore the intriguing history of the "Golden Temple," a structure that was kept in storage at Oberlin College in Ohio for several decades. The temple's origins trace back to the Wanfaguiyi Pavilion, an ornate hall constructed in a large courtyard within a replica of the Dalai Lama's Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, that was made in northern China for the Chinese imperial court of the 18th-century. A replica of the pavilion was later recreated and exhibited at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress exposition, after which it was disassembled and stored in Oberlin before being transported to Sweden in 1986. But why Sweden? Why Oberlin? And why Tibet? Understanding the answers involves examining the concept of architectural reproduction as a microcosm, serving as a tool of imperialist ideology in both 18th-century Qing China and early 20th-century Europe and North America.
​​About the speaker:
Kevin R. E. Greenwood is an art historian and curator specializing in the visual arts and architecture of East Asia. His tenure as the inaugural Joan L. Danforth Curator of Asian Art at the Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM), Oberlin College, has been marked by a rejuvenation of the interpretation and educational use of the museum's extensive collection of Asian art covering prehistory to the present. This has been realized through a multitude of diverse exhibitions, guest and public lectures, significant acquisitions, and other initiatives. Additionally, Dr. Greenwood has been instrumental in securing vital grants aimed at art conservation and promoting educational outreach at the AMAM.
​His current exhibitions at the AMAM include Inspirations: Global Dialogue Through the Arts; Eight Views: Place, Picture, and Poem in East Asia; Trickster Spirits: Demons, Foxes, and Tengu in Japanese Folklore; and Shadows of Meaning, Echoes of Memory: Works from the Zirinsky Collection. Apart from his specialized work in 18th-century Chinese imperial religious art, Greenwood maintains broader research interests within the study of East Asian art, including Buddhist art, Chinese painting, East Asian contemporary art, and Chinese and Japanese garden architecture.

More info can be seen here: https://amam.oberlin.edu/
Videos:  https://vimeo.com/allenartmuseum
Further Reading:
Berger, Patricia. Empire of Emptiness: Buddhist Art and Political Authority in Qing China. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2003.
Debord, Guy. La société du spectacle. Detroit: Black & Red, 1983.
Forêtt, Philippe. Mapping Chengde: The Qing Landscape Enterprise. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2000.
Greenwood, Kevin R. E. "Yonghegong: Imperial Universalism and the Art and Architecture of Beijing's 'Lama Temple.'" PhD diss., University of Kansas, 2013. [Link here]
Johnson, Dale R. "American Saga of a Chinese Temple." Unpublished manuscript, n.d. Oberlin College Archives.
Roskam, Cole. "Situating Chinese Architecture within 'A Century of Progress': The Chinese Pavilion, the Bendix Golden Temple, and the 1933 Chicago World's Fair." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 73, no. 3 (2014): 347-71.
Shepherdson-Scott, Kari. "Conflicting Politics and Contesting Borders: Exhibiting (Japanese) Manchuria at the Chicago World's Fair, 1933-34." The Journal of Asian Studies 74, no. 3 (2015): 539-64.
Join us after the webinar 11 - 11:30am in our First Saturday PDX  Tea House to further the discussion and online social time.  Bring your cup of tea! 
​(Separate access link for this will be provided in your single registration for this event )

​This presentation is offered via Zoom Webinar:
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Our Stop Asian Hate Resources information is available here
Our program series is supported by Reed College,  the Northwest China Council, Lan Su Chinese Garden and the Portland Chinatown Museum. Our programs are free and open to the public.