An art exhibition
at the world-famous Pompidou Center in Paris is offering the French an insight
into contemporary China.
The exhibition entitled "Alors, la Chine? (Well Then, China?)"
features works by about 50 contemporary Chinese artists active both in
China and in the world.
The show is sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and organized
by the China International Exhibition Center and the Pompidou Center,
a leading venue for modern and contemporary art.
"The Pompidou Center is hosting an exhibition of Chinese art for
the first time in its history. It is the largest exhibition of Chinese
contemporary art ever held in France," said Fan Di'an, curator of
the exhibition, who is also vice-president of the Central Academy of Fine
Arts in Beijing.
"The Pompidou Center has been the 'center' of Western art to a certain
extent in the eyes of Chinese artists for quite a long time," Fan
told China Daily. "The center is especially noticeable for its work
in discovering and introducing new Western art and also in promoting the
development of multiculturalism."
The exhibition opened on June 24 and is scheduled to run until October
13.
"We hope that, via the artists we selected and their works, we will
be able to demonstrate the changes and major features of Chinese art at
the turn of the century, so that French - or Western - audiences will
better understand what's in the minds of Chinese artists in this rapidly
transforming society due to the increasingly fast pace of globalization
in the 21st century," he noted.
New Chinese art
Although traditional artistic concepts and styles are still dominant in
today's China, a lot of new concepts and experiments have been emerging
since the 1980s, as the country has experienced an unprecedented tide
of reform and opening up.
The new trends are not only significant artistically, but also culturally.
They not only reflect social changes, but also change in Chinese art.
The exhibition focuses on "New Chinese art" and presents the
works of a group of young artists, all from the Chinese mainland.
Among the works are oil paintings by Fang Lijun, Liu Xiaodong, and Zhou
Tiehai; photography by Weng Fen, Xing Danwen, and Bai Yiluo; sculptures
by Shi Hui and Song Dong; installations by Hong Lei and Yang Maoyuan;
and videos by Yang Fudong, Li Yongbin and Wang Jianwei.
The exhibition also includes music by rock star Cui Jian, films by director
Jia Zhangke and Zhang Yimou, and architectural designs by Wang Shu, Chang
Yung Ho and Liu Jiakun.
Noticeably, the exhibition also features three treasures of Chinese history,
a jade ritual instrument of the Liangzhu Culture dating back more than
5,000 years and found in the lower Yangtze River valley, a bronze mirror
of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), and a calligraphic work by
Zhu Yunming from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Objects typical of China's "cultural revolution" (1966-76),
from a French collector, are also on display.
The historic exhibits provide background information for visitors to better
understand Chinese history and culture.
Personal perspectives
Urbanization, which is probably the most important trend in contemporary
China, is a subject of concern for Chinese artists and has been the theme
of some major exhibitions of contemporary art, including the 2002 Shanghai
Biennale.
Some of the works in the Paris show also touch on this subject.
Among the most impressive is Weng Fen's photographs "Sitting on the
Wall."
In the pictures, a Chinese girl sits on a wall from where she can see
skyscrapers in the city. The girl's gestures signal that she wants a new
life in the city, but also has some underlying worries and fears. The
wall separates the world before her and the life and environment behind,
which viewers cannot see in the picture.
"The photographer caught the very interesting moments. But he connects
the series of images with a certain concept, that is, to separate the
real world with a wall. What is behind the wall? He does not give a concrete
indication. Maybe some space opposite to the city?" Gu Zheng, a Shanghai
photography critic, commented.
Facing the challenge of globalization, some Chinese artists use local
historic and cultural elements in their art works to create a dialogue
between the local and the global.
The oil paintings of Wang Guangyi are in a way reminiscent of Western
pop art, but he uses the images of workers, farmers and soldiers typical
of the "cultural revolution" in his works blasting commercialization
and globalization as foreign products are pouring into the country.
Sculptor Liu Jianhua, however, tries to seek inspiration from the traditional
Chinese art form of porcelain in his sculptural works, which portray the
life and feeling of contemporary Chinese people.
While many artists enthusiastically follow the styles of Western modern
art in the 1980s and 1990s, Jia Zhangke, Liu Xiaodong and Fang Lijun document
their personal experiences and daily lives in their films and paintings.
Chinese contemporary art at the turn of the century is especially remarkable
as a result of its experiments in media and techniques.
A number of the exhibits are new media art works that blend technology
with art. Although the grasp of technology may not be as mature as that
of their Western counterparts, their perspective, feeling and images are
typical of contemporary Chinese society and personal style.
Growing respect
The current exhibition is located in the main hall of the Pompidou Center,
occupying a total space of 2,000 square meters.
Alfred Pacquement, director of the Museum of Modern Art of the Pompidou
Center, said: "We have chosen the title of this exhibition from an
article by French author Roland Barthes in 1974. The article influenced
many French people's understanding of China.
"We hope to let the French people today know more about a more real
China, which is no longer a country always prejudiced by symbols such
as the 'cultural revolution'."
The current show in Paris reminds many of a similar exhibition, "Living
in Time," in Berlin two years ago, the first time the Chinese Government
sponsored an exhibition of Chinese contemporary art in a foreign country.
"Before the opening of that exhibition, the German art museum decided
only to rent some side halls to us since they were not quite sure about
the quality of Chinese art and our ability to organize the show. But after
the opening, the German side began to regret this when they found the
exhibition was so influential and popular," said Zhang Yu, president
of the China International Exhibition Agency. "It might be the Germans'
regret that made the French so determined this time."
Of course this not only means that the efforts of Chinese artists and
curators are effective, but also signals that the Chinese artists are
winning more respect from the global community.
"Nowadays, an international exhibition like the Venice Biennale can
hardly be regarded as important enough without the participation of Chinese
artists. If an international curator missed China from his or her field
of vision, that would be seen as a cultural blind spot," Fan said.
It is fair to say that contemporary Chinese art is expanding its foothold
in the global community and becoming a new resource and inspiration for
world art and culture.
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