除了上海历史专家和好奇的闲逛者，很多上海本地居民也从未踏进“土山湾博物馆”这栋低矮的楼房。脱离开漕溪北路的喧嚣，坐落在蒲汇塘路55号上的遗迹曾经包含前西班牙式建筑群的宿舍、教室和工作坊，蔓延在5.5公顷的土地上，而如今只留下这里曾为贫困的年轻中国男孩提供食宿和教育的残影。

虽然这是一段丰富的历史，但古雅精致的博物馆却很遗憾地只拥有少量的在孤儿院运营的1864年到1962年期间所制作的工艺品原物。工艺院作为孤儿院突出的身份特征，在这约八十年的政治动荡和商业繁荣中满足了上海政治和艺术的关键需要。可惜徐汇区出版的少量英语文献都已过时，而且只提供了一种静态的叙述。

这次演讲力争为土山湾孤儿院的工艺学校做一次更新的检视。结合近期的研究成果，以及对艺术品本身的批评鉴赏，这一进行中的研究试图重新书写和重新评估徐汇被研究不足、并为世界所不知的这段历史传奇。演讲中，Julie将为大家展示大量精彩照片，对上海工艺历史感兴趣的朋友不要错过~

With the exception of Shanghai history specialists and the curious wayward wanderer, even some of the city’s local residents have never entered the small building inscribed ‘T’ou-se-we Museum’ (also known as Tushanwan 土山湾 Museum) on its red façade. Located at 55 Puhuitang Lu (蒲汇塘路) off the busy Caoxi Bei Lu (漕溪北路), the remnant of the former Spanish-styled compound of dormitories, classrooms, and workshops on a sprawling 5.5 hectares is now but a mere shadow which once housed, fed, and taught destitute young Chinese boys. While rich in history, the quaint and well-kept museum unfortunately possesses only a few actual artefacts produced during the period when the orphanage was instituted in 1864 until its formal closure in 1962. 

The craft school, which was distinctly tied to the identity of the orphanage, served a crucial social and artistic need in Shanghai for about 80 years during times of both political turmoil and commercial prosperity. Regrettably, the few available books in the English language, especially those published by Shanghai’s Xuhui District (徐汇区) tend to be outdated and offer a static narrative. This talk strives for a renewed examination of the Tushanwan orphanage craft school. By incorporating the evidence of recent scholarship, as well as a critical assessment of the artworks produced, this continuing research seeks to re-address and re-evaluate the legacy of Xuhui’s understudied history which remains relatively insular to the world- at-large.