Established in 2014, the Institute for Collaborative Innovation in Chinese Visual Studies (CIVS) is a provincial-level Collaborative Innovation Center in Zhejiang Province and an interdisciplinary research and graduate education platform at China Academy of Art. Focusing on visual culture, the Institute advances research on the visual expression of Chinese culture, the contemporary transformation of cultural heritage, and its international communication. Supported by the China Institute for Visual Studies, the Research Institute for Chinese Character Culture, the Social Archive of Chinese Photography, and the Research Institute for Chinese Freehand Flower-and-Bird Painting, CIVS brings together distinguished scholars and artists from China and abroad to foster interdisciplinary research, artistic creation, and public engagement.

CIVS promotes collaborative research in three major fields—Visual Studies of Chinese Classical Culture, Vernacular Culture, and Contemporary Culture. It offers graduate programmes in Fine Arts and Art Theory, with 33 interdisciplinary research directions at both the master's and doctoral levels, including Visual Sinology, Art and Technology, Practice of Visual Sinology, Theory of Artistic Creation, and Spatial Studies. The Institute also administers the postdoctoral programmes in Fine Arts and Art Theory. Integrating research, teaching, artistic practice, and social engagement, CIVS provides students with diverse opportunities through research projects, publications, international collaboration, exhibitions, and public programmes, cultivating emerging scholars and artists with interdisciplinary perspectives, academic creativity, cultural awareness, and global vision.

In recent years, CIVS has undertaken numerous national research and creative projects, producing influential academic publications and cultural initiatives that have strengthened the international visibility of Chinese visual culture and contributed to global dialogue on Chinese art and visual studies.

Faculty: 45 faculty members and researchers, including 22 full professors, 6 associate professors, and 13 postdoctoral researchers.

Students: More than 120 master's and doctoral students.

Director: Lu Yong

Deputy Directors: Zhao Hui (also Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Art Journal); Lei Ziren

Email: civs@caa.edu.cn