Chinese British Identity Through the Lens of Lancashire’s Rhododendron Ponticum
Research Lunch – Dr Alina Sinelnyk
- 15 May 2026
- This talk reflects on how contemporary artists have responded towards the position of Chinese British migrants (plant and human) in the post-Brexit and post-COVID-19 UK.
, Walk 43-183, 09 June 2020, From With Love. From an Invader. (2020-2021), ©Yan Wang Preston.
With Love. From an Invader. (2020-21) is a moving-image work by Chinese British artist Yan Wang Preston and British composer Monty Adkins. Over twelve months, the artists visually and sonically recorded one heart-shaped Rhododendron ponticum woody plant in Burnley (Lancashire). Originally brought to the UK from China, Spain and other locations during the colonial period, Rhododendron ponticum is now the subject of the official campaign for eradication on the grounds that it is a threat to the native flora. Drawn to the parallel between the legislation on this plant and the Brexit campaign’s migration policy, the artists worked on With Love. From an Invader. to critically question sociopolitical prejudices towards diversity – cultural and botanical.
By zooming in on the work’s intermedial aspect, Alina will examine how and to what ends With Love. From an Invader. opens a more inclusive and multidimensional dialogue on Chinese British migrants in the UK. Specifically, Alina will argue that the employment of the soundscape thematically mirrors, but also critically departs from, the visual documentation of Burnley’s Rhododendron ponticum. By both converging and diverging the work’s underlying messages across the visual and sonic levels, Yan Wang Preston and Monty Adkins effectively convey the complexity of the Rhododendron ponticum case in the UK. As Alina will further argue, in doing this, With Love. From an Invader. also compels viewers to take time to reflect on (and care for) the position of the new British multispecies natives in the UK.
Schedule
1 pm: Welcome and talk
1.40 pm: Talk finishes
1.40-2 pm: Q&As
A light lunch and refreshments are provided at the event.
About the speaker
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Dr Alina Sinelnyk is an honorary fellow at Durham University and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, researching contemporary Chinese American and Chinese British art, and its mediation. She has previously lectured on the history of art at the University of Edinburgh, Durham University and the University of Hong Kong. In 2021 Alina completed her doctoral thesis at the University of
Edinburgh that explored Western exhibitions and collections of contemporary Chinese ink art. Alina’s research has been published by Palgrave Macmillan and Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, and she is currently writing a monograph on Californian artist Zheng Chongbin, under contract with Legenda (an imprint of the Modern Humanities Research Association). Among the latest examples of her work, she delivered conference papers at the 2025 Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference (2025) in Columbus, Ohio (USA) and the 2025 European Association for Asian Art and Archaeology Conference in Lisbon (Portugal). Alina’s research received funding from the Association for Art History (UK) and the Association for Asian Studies (USA).