Interpreting Chinese Wallpaper through Participatory Art and Augmented Reality.

If Walls Could Talk is a participatory art and heritage project led by artist Louise Atkinson to reinterpret the Chinese export wallpaper in the East Bedroom at Harewood House. Created in 18th-century Canton (now Guangzhou), the wallpaper depicts scenes from the production of rice, silk, tea, and porcelain, industries central to Chinese trade and British consumption. 

The imagery directly references Pictures of Tilling and Weaving 耕織圖 (Gengzhitu), a series of 12th-century prints that were reimagined by successive Qing emperors to promote agriculture, good governance, and Confucian ideals. During this period, the images began to reflect Western influence, incorporating linear perspective introduced by Jesuit missionaries working at the Imperial court. The same motifs appeared in export watercolours, shaping European perceptions of life in China.

The project invited participants from Chinese-speaking community groups in Leeds to explore themes from the wallpaper through a series of creative workshops. Their ideas, conversations, and visual responses have directly informed a new augmented reality experience at Harewood House, which offers contemporary perspectives on trade, migration, and cultural heritage.

A complementary exhibition at the University of Leeds shares the research and collaborative process behind the project, including the history of Chinese export wallpaper in the UK and the work developed with community groups. An accompanying symposium brings together artists, conservators, and researchers to reflect on the wallpaper as both decorative art and transnational object.