The Art Deco Department Stores of Shanghai: The Chinese-Australian Connection

Abstract
Shanghai’s Nanjing Road is internationally famous for its iconic department stores built in the early twentieth century. These stores were not just about selling the best goods from around the world. They were also about entertainment and pleasure.

But few people know who established these stores and even fewer know the names of the Chinese-Australian merchants from Sydney’s Haymarket who were the key players. And who would guess that these grand department stores were built on the back of the Haymarket banana trade! What was the secret to this international success story?

Biography
Peter Hack had a 33-year career in the NSW Department of Education before leaving the Public Service in May 2016. He is a researcher and historian of modern Chinese and Australian history. Peter is a life member of the Chinese Museum in Melbourne and the Chinese-Australian Historical Society; and a member of the Foundations of National Gallery of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales. He is a regular visitor to Shanghai where he spoke at the World Congress on Art Deco in 2015. And he is the author of The Art Deco Department Stores of Shanghai: The Chinese-Australian Connection.

Light lunch will be served so please advise of any dietary requirements.

Registrations close 6 February 2019.