Delivered by Intellect to: Intellect Ltd (id22687532) IP: 81.174.157.205 On: Mon, 11 Dec 2023 16:21:56 JCCA 10 (3) pp. 389–412 Intellect Limited 2023 Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art Volume 10 Number 3 www.intellectbooks.com 389 © 2023 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. https://doi.org/10.1386/jcca_00091_1 Received 1 May 2023; Accepted 31 August 2023; Published Online November 2023 EMILY VERLA BOVINO City University of Hong Kong Curation-as-branding and the problem with cultural diplomacy: The case of Q Art Group ABSTRACT Founded in 2018 by Hong Kong heiress Queenie Rosita Law of the Law family apparel brand Bossini fame, Q Art Group is a private art initiative between Hungary and China that, in the words of its Hungarian artistic direc- tor, promotes Central and Eastern European art ‘within the dynamics of the Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI). Hungary was the first European country to sign onto BRI cooperation, and it leads the 14 + 1 initiative promoting invest- ment between China and Central and Eastern Europe. The country’s national- conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán uses Hungary’s position as a BRI gateway to bolster an ‘illiberal’ agenda within the European Union. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Q Art Group – comprising the Budapest private museum, Q Contemporary, the Hong Kong gallery Double Q and Q Studio, an art studio that works with luxury properties – is rebranding both Central and Eastern Europe and China in a mix of cultural diplomacy and art market strategy between Hong Kong and Budapest. The article considers the co-constituting images of the Greater China and Central and Eastern Europe that Q Art Group presents in Hungary and Hong Kong by positioning itself as a discourse maker in Central and Eastern European art. What is the ‘post-communist land- scape’ – as Q Art Group calls Central and Eastern Europe – mobilized in this KEYWORDS contemporary art curation nation branding cultural difference Central and Eastern Europe China Greater China Hungary