Presented by Modern Media Group and The Outlook Magazine
Promo Event of 2010 Get It Louder Exhibition
Special Preview of Zhu Wen’s latest film Thomas Mao

After the success of the Get It Louder Exhibition in 2005 and 2007, Modern Media Group and the Outlook Magazine will again get together the pioneer creative force and break the borders between art, design, music, film and literature. The third installment of Get It Louder Exhibition in 2010 aims to take China’s social concepts and creative cause to an altitude that is more international and attractive.

From June 15 to 30, 2010, with the 2010 Get It Louder Exhibition coming soon, a premiere preview of Zhu Wen’s new film Thomas Mao will be shown in Shanghai International Film Festival, Beijing Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (UCCA) and Beijing MOMA Broadway Cinematheque. The director will join the discussion with the audience after each screening. Meanwhile, his 2003 work South of the Clouds will be screened at UCCA and Broadway Cinematheque also. In this promotional event of 2010 GIL, chief curator Ou Ning will announce the visual design and curatorial concepts of the exhibition.

The Outlook Magazine under Modern Media Group ranks top in China’s creative life media. Focusing on “High-end Fashion, Creative Culture”, the magazine keeps updating and changing and has become a unique creative life magazine. The magazine discovers and reports creative force from both home and abroad, provides rich cutting-edge content with taste accompanied by delicate design and outstanding style. Since its birth in 2002, the magazine is very well received by market, especially by the elites of the society. The magazine has received numerous awards and recognition in the publishing industry, as well as being a multiple winner for The Society of Publishers in Asia’s Awards for Editorial Excellence. In 2010, the Outlook Magazine will again get the creative force sound louder!

Zhu Wen is one of the most important and representative poets and novelists in China’s contemporary literature and also a representative of China’s new generation film directors. The English version of his novel I Love Dollars was nominated in the final selection of Kiriyama Prize in 2008. His publications include: Because We Were Lonely, Little Brother’s Big Recital, Do the People Really Need Saunas?, What is Love and What is Garbage, among others. He also wrote for film scripts like Rainclouds over Wushan and Seventeen Years and began to work as a film director since 2000. His directorial debut Seafood won the Grand Jury Prize of the 2001 Venice International Film Festival and other international awards. His second film South of the Clouds was awarded the NETPAC Prize at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival.

Thomas Mao is the third feature film of Zhu Wen. Taking two years to produce, the film was completed in 2009. Zhu invited famous painter Mao Yan and Thomas Rohdewald, the head of the Luxembourg Pavilion of 2010 Shanghai World Expo to play the main roles. Mao Yan and Thomas are a special work group in China’s contemporary art scene with Thomas modeling for Mao for nearly ten years. Zhu skillfully combined this real story into the film. Thomas Mao is a combination of a foreign name and a Chinese name. In the film, a westerner and a Chinese man came across each other in the remote Inner Mongolian grassland. Under such a special context a conversation between the west and the east began. The director hopes to observe the world full of cultural confrontation with unconventional eyes. “Small” is what the film pursues. In an age full of blockbusters, the director hopes to make something “small” but really creative. The film has a strong surreal atmosphere but is full of humor and fun. It combines elements of comedy, thriller and Kung fu film and reaches a breakthrough in film treatment while keeping the high standard the director always has in film narrative.

After each screening, Zhu Wen, together with the main cast of Thomas Mao including Mao Yan, Thomas Rohdewald and Jinzi will join a CROSSTALK discussion moderated by Ou Ning and answer the questions from the audience. The trailer of Thomas Mao is invited to play in the 2010 World Expo. During this year’s Get It Louder Exhibition, Thomas Mao will also be screened in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as special project, together with its debut in nationwide cinemas.

Screening Schedule

Thomas Mao

5:30pm – 6:10pm, 15 June, Press Conference, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai
6:45pm, 15 June, the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival special screening, Room No.3, Shanghai Film Art Centre
9:00pm-10:00pm, 15 June, CROSSTALK Shanghai # 1, Zhu Wen, Mao Yan, Thomas Rohdewald, Jin Zi and Ou Ning, Minsheng Art Museum

South of the Clouds

7:30pm, 19 June, Beijing Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (UCCA)
4:00pm, 20 June, Room No.2, Beijing MOMA Broadway Cinematheque
4:00pm, 26 June, Room No.2, Beijing MOMA Broadway Cinematheque
9:30pm, 30 June, Room No.2, Beijing MOMA Broadway Cinematheque

Screening address

Shanghai Film Art Centre, No.160, Xinhua Lu, Changning District, Shanghai (entrance of Fanyu Lu)
Minsheng Art Museum, Tower F, No.570, Huaihaixi Lu, Shanghai (inside the Red Town)
UCCA, 798 Art District, No.4, Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Beijing MOMA Broadway Cinematheque, Tower T4, Grand MOMA, No.1, Xiangheyuan, Dongzhimen, Beijing (B Exit of Dongzhimen Subway Station in Line No.2 and 15-minute walk from the Northeast Exit in Line No.13)

CROSSTALK Guests

Mao Yan

Famous painter. Born in Xiangtan, Hunan Province, China. He graduated from Oil Painting Department, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China. He now teaches at the Fine Art Department of Nanjing Arts Institute. He is one of the hottest painters in art market with his works sold for over RMB 10 million. Mao is much acclaimed for his conceptual portrait paintings. His works emphasizes on skills and techniques very much, especially the “Portrait Series of Thomas”. With his unraveled painting skills and his constant exploration on paintings, he’s acclaimed as “painter’s painter”.

Thomas Rohdewald

Former diplomat. Born in Luxembourg. Graduated from the Math Department of Oxford University. Head of Luxembourg Pavilion of 2010 Shanghai World Expo

Jin Zi

Graduated from Beijing Film Academy. Main role of Seafood, South of the Clouds and Thomas Mao.

About the films

Thomas Mao

Runtime: 77 minutes
Language: Chinese
Subtitle: English

A western bag-packer happened to stay at a Chinese herdsman’s home which the herdsman runs as hostel in the remote grassland of Inner Mongolia. There conversation and confrontations between the eastern and western cultures began. The two main roles are played by famous painter Mao Yan and his long-term model Thomas Rohdewald. They’ve worked together for nearly ten years, a unique case in China’s contemporary field. In the end, the film goes back to Mao Yan’s studio. The context is changed but the confrontation continues while a guy who claimed to be an alien is excluded from conversation without hesitance.

South of the Clouds

Runtime: 100 minutes
Language: Chinese/English
Subtitle: Chinese/English

Xu Daqin who’s never traveled far from home is determined to go to Yunnan after he retired. If there hadn’t been an accident, he almost moved to Yunnan in his youth. But when he finally arrives at his dreamland, police somehow arrests him by mistake. Such special experience makes him not only see the landscape of Yunnan but also understand life better.

Wild Gathering: A Triangle Project

Opening: 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm, June 5 (Invitation only)
Date: June 5-12, 2010
Opening hours: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm (everyday)
Address: Beijing Angle Modern Art, 4/F, Tower 1, Zhongguo Hongjie (China View), Jia 2 Gongti Dong Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Shao Foundation is pleased to announce Wild Gathering, an exceptional global exhibit where photography and fashion come together showcasing modern youth culture, featuring photographers Madi Ju (Beijing) and Peter Sutherland (New York) along with clothing designer Hiro Sawatari (Tokyo).

Their focus on youth culture naturally connected the three. Peter Sutherland and Madi Ju exchanged photos in a variety of environments: expressing strong emotions and kids in their natural environments. After shooting in cities all over the world, they send the photos to fashion designer Hiro Sawatari who will create T-shirts using their images in his collage forms. Meanwhile, Peter & Madi will shoot 6 looks from Hiroʼs collections respectively.

Beijing based HHD_FUN will participate to design the exhibition space.

For information, please contact
Shanshan Quan
E-mail: sanpigquan@gmail.com
Tel: (86) 138 1125 7299

About the participating artists

Madi Ju

Born in 1983 in Wuhan, China. She studied French at Guangdong University of Foreign Languages. She created After17 in 2005, a web magazine introducing Chinese female artists. She created My Little Dead Dick photo studio with Patrick Tsai, and finished their 2 years photo project Love Diary. The series was shortlisted for the Hyeres Festival International de Mode et de Photographie in 2008. Her personal work was also shown in galleries and in publications worldwide, recently included in SHOOT: photography of the moment, by Rizzoli New York in 2009. She self-published her first book Madi Ju: A Personal Anthology I last year.

www.madiju.com

Peter Sutherland

Born in Colorado in 1976. His work employs some of the techniques of traditional documentary photography to capture the hidden beauty of ordinary objects and everyday situations. He’s released several publications and films, most recently Buck Shots (powerHouse Books) and Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project (Zeitgeist Films). Sutherland has shown in group exhibitions at Rivington Arms/NY, Guild and Greyskull/NY, Circleculture Gallery/Berlin, V1 Gallery/Copenhagen and the travelling Tiny Vices show, currated by Tim Barber. His solo exhibitions have been on view at Someday Gallery/Melbourne, MU/ Eindhoven and Gallery White Room/Tokyo.

www.petersutherland.net

Hiro Sawatari

Born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1981. After spending his childhood in Bristol & Shanghai, he attended the City University of New York Baruch College. While in school, Sawatari started his career as the designer’s assistant at Rachel Comey in 2002. Later he worked for Libertine, which left the footprint in the fashion world by its Punk’n’ Rock & Victorian One-of-a-kind vintage clothing. In 2006, Sawatari moved to Tokyo to launch his own design studio HiroSawatari Design. His menswear line is available in high-end boutiques such as Isetan (Tokyo), Maxfield (Los Angeles) & Aizel (Moscow). In China, it is available at Aegis Shanghai. He has been collaborating with Peter Sutherland since 2008. From Spring/Summer 2011, his new graphic line called “HiroSawatari HAL” will be launched.

www.hirosawatari.com

Exhibition design team

HHD_FUN

As the Beijing Branch of HHDesign, HHD_FUN is a design and research studio with interests in bringing knowledge from various fields outside of architecture and experimenting these means into the design of architecture. The computational techniques, geometric principles and algorithms are one portion of their approaches as the means in architecture generation.

www.hhdfun.com

Film screenings：

May 9, 2010

14:00 The Days, by Wang Xiaoshuai (75 minutes)
15:30 Spring Fever, by Lou Ye (112 minutes)

Venue: Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art

CROSSTALK Beijing # 8 New Wave of Chinese films

Moderator: Cheng Qingsong
Guests: Wang Xiaoshuai, Nai An, Ou Ning
Time: 5:30pm, May 9, 2010
Venue: Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art

As leader for urban cutting-edge culture, Modern Weekly, together with UCCA, initiated the Cultural Weekends events. The next event is about films. On May 9, two films will be screened at UCCA, including The Days (1993), Wang Xiaoshuai’s directorial debut, starring artist Liu Xiaodong and Yu Hong and Lou Ye’s latest film, Spring Fever (2009) which won him the best screenplay award at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. Across 16 years, the two films not only show the living conditions of artists and issues about being gay in China, but also the development of independent films and the existence of new wave concept in China. After the screenings, film critic Cheng Qingsong will moderate a CROSSTALK event, discussing the new wave of Chinese films and the inseparable connections between art and film with Wang Xiaoshuai, producer Nai An and curator Ou Ning.

Co-organizers: Modern Weekly, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art

Academic supporters: Shao Foundation, Youth Film Handbook

* Members only.

Die 2008 gegründete Shao Foundation mit Sitz in Peking ist eine der wenigen chinesischen Stiftungen, die sich vor allem im Kulturbereich engagiert. Ihr Gründer Shao Zhong (邵忠) ist Verleger und Vorstandsvorsitzender der Modern Media Group, unter deren Dach u.a. die Zeitschriften Modern Weekly, Life Magazine und The Outlook Magazine erscheinen.

Der Direktor der Shao Foundation, Ou Ning (欧宁), wurde 1969 in der Provinz Guangdong geboren. Als Künstler und Kurator hat sich Ou Ning in so unterschiedlichen Bereichen wie Musik, Film, Literatur, Kunst und Design einen Namen gemacht. Im Januar 2010 empfing er das Deutsch-Chinesische Kulturnetz zu einem Gespräch über Ziele und Aktivitäten der Shao-Foundation.

Herr Ou, wie wurde die Shao Foundation gegründet?

Meine Zusammenarbeit mit Herrn Shao Zhong begann im Jahr 2000 mit einer Sonderbeilage in der Modern Weekly. 2008 zog seine Pekinger Firma in den Bürokomplex Zhongguo Hongjie und ich sollte ihm hier eine Galerie einrichten. Ich war aber der Meinung, in Peking gäbe es bereits genügend Ausstellungsräume und schlug deshalb vor, eine Stiftung zu gründen. Auf diese Art braucht man sich nämlich nicht auf einen Ort zu beschränken, eine Stiftung ist flexibler und kann – solange sie über entsprechende Mittel verfügt – an unterschiedlichen Orten agieren. Herr Shao war von diesem Vorschlag sehr angetan und ließ die Shao Foundation sofort beim Amt für zivile Angelegenheiten in Guangdong registrieren. Die Behörden dort waren sehr kooperativ und die Formalitäten gingen schnell und reibungslos über die Bühne. Im September 2008 haben wir mit unserer Arbeit begonnen.

Was für Projekte will die Stiftung hauptsächlich fördern?

Meiner Meinung nach wird in China der unabhängige Film zu wenig gefördert, vor allem der Dokumentarfilm. Außerdem chinesische Literatur, nicht die Trendliteratur oder was auf der Bestsellerliste steht, sondern anspruchsvollere Literatur. Für diese Bereiche wollen wir intellektuelle Gesprächsrunden veranstalten. Deshalb haben wir das Konzept CROSSTALK entwickelt, bei dem wir Personen aus ganz unterschiedlichen Bereichen zusammenbringen und sie diskutieren lassen. Außerdem möchte ich mit der Stiftung einige Veranstaltungen zur zeitgenössischen Kunst jenseits des Mainstreams organisieren.

Herr Shao stellt sich vor allem vor, dass die Stiftung ein Versuchslabor sein soll und dass aus den hier stattfindenden Diskussionen neue Erkenntnisse und Ideen gewonnen werden, die dann in die von ihm herausgegebenen Magazine einfließen. Außerdem hat er die Idee, der Gesellschaft etwas zurückgeben zu wollen. Natürlich stimmen meine Interessen nicht immer mit seinen überein, aber ich bemühe mich, meine Vorhaben mit seinen Vorstellungen in Einklang zu bringen.

Welche Mission bzw. welche Ziele verfolgt die Shao Foundation?

Unsere Mission ist der Aufbau der Gesellschaft und die Produktion und Verbreitung von Wissen. Aufbau der Gesellschaft bedeutet auch die Veränderung der Gesellschaft, und da ich mich in den letzten Jahren sehr mit der Situation auf dem Land beschäftigt habe, haben wir zu einer CROSSTALK-Diskussion zum Beispiel den Leiter der Kulturorganisation Lijiang Studio, Jay Brown, eingeladen, der im Dorf Lashihai bei Lijiang in der ProvinzYunnan einige Kulturprojekte gemacht hat, damit er über seine Erfahrungen berichtet. Es gab auch einen CROSSTALK zur politischen Partizipation junger Menschen. Dies alles gehört für mich zu dem Bestreben, dass Kultur sich in die Gesellschaft einmischt.

Im letzten Jahr war ich viel auf dem Land unterwegs und habe festgestellt, dass es im Süden der Provinz Anhui viele Möglichkeiten gibt, Kulturarbeit zu machen. Es gibt schon sehr gute Vorbilder: In den 1930er Jahren engagierte sich James Yen (Yan Yangchu, 晏阳初) im Kreis Ding in der Provinz Hebei für die Volksbildung. 2003 gründete Wen Tiejun (温铁军) von der Volksuniversität in Peking eben dort das James Yen Rural Reconstruction Institute, in dem er höchstpersönlich dort bis 2007 Bauern Wissen vermittelte. Als ich kürzlich dort war, war ich sehr überrascht über den großen Erfolg seiner Arbeit. Die Bauern können über Fragen wie ökologischen Anbau oder die von den Wanderarbeitern in den Dörfern zurückgelassen Kinder diskutieren, sie haben schnell gelernt, Mikroblogs zu nutzen und konnten sich mit mir sogar über „Multikulturalismus“ unterhalten.

Bei der letzten „Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture“ 2009/2010 habe ich ein Symposium über die Situation auf dem Land organisiert. Mit diesem Thema möchte ich mich auch in diesem Jahr gern weiter beschäftigen. Was den Kulturbereich betrifft, werden wir weiterhin Ausstellungen und Diskussionen organisieren. Diese Diskussionen und auch alle von uns veranstalteten CROSSTALKS werden in den von der Modern Media Group herausgegebenen Magazinen veröffentlicht.

Man kann also sagen, dass die Shao-Stiftung und die Modern Media Group nicht unabhängig voneinander sind, während in Deutschland eine Stiftung normalerweise ganz klar getrennt von dem Unternehmen agiert, das sie gründet?

Im chinesischen System ist das relativ frei und ich finde die Art und Weise wie wir es machen eigentlich sehr gut. Zu einer Diskussionsveranstaltung kommen doch höchstens einige hundert Leute; will man, dass noch mehr Leute von dieser Veranstaltung erfahren, dann muss man das über die Medien verbreiten. Deshalb stecken wir normalerweise viel Energie in unseren Internetauftritt, stellen immer die Dokumentationen der Diskussionen ins Internet und veröffentlichen sie zugleich in den Magazinen der Modern Media Group, damit sich auch die Leute, die nicht zu der Veranstaltung kommen konnten, über die Inhalte der Diskussionen informieren können.

Und wie werden die Mittel der Stiftung verplant?

Die finanziellen Mittel stammen von Privatleuten, für die konkrete Verwendung gibt es keine Regeln. In China gibt es private Stiftungen noch nicht lange, ich habe das auch noch nie gemacht, deshalb läuft es bei den Finanzen und im operativen Geschäft eher noch wie in einem Unternehmen. Es gibt keinen Etat für das gesamte Jahr, allerdings gibt es jedes Jahr eine Gesamtplanung, z.B. hatte ich für 2008 eine sehr genaue Planung aufgestellt und für das ganze Jahr ungefähr 20 Projekte geplant, doch die Wirtschaftskrise 2008 ging auch an der Media Group nicht spurlos vorüber, so dass von den ursprünglich geplanten 20 Projekten lediglich sieben oder acht realisiert wurden.

In diesem Jahr wollen wir wieder mehr Veranstaltungen durchführen. Ein Projekt, das wir auf jeden Fall machen wollen, ist die Ausstellung Get it Louder. Das ist eine Ausstellung speziell für junge Architekten, Designer, Künstler, Regisseure und Musiker, die sich noch keinen Namen gemacht haben. Diese jungen Leute haben wegen der immer stärkeren Kommerzialisierung der Kultur nur sehr wenig Spielraum. Diese Ausstellung, die ich 2005 zum ersten Mal kuratiert habe, spricht sehr viele junge Leuten an, das Feedback ist auch nicht schlecht, sehr viele Firmen sind bereit sie zu sponsern.

CROSSTALK findet zum großen Teil in Peking statt, haben Sie schon einmal daran gedacht, diese Veranstaltung auch in anderen Städten zu veranstalten?

Ich habe vor kurzem in Shenzhen einen Dialog-Marathon organisiert, der von Rem Koolhaas und Hans Ulrich Obrist moderiert wurde. Viele meinten, wenn man diesen Marathon in Peking durchführte, wäre das bestimmt ein großer Erfolg, aber ich finde, dass er dann eine andere Bedeutung bekäme. Gerade weil in Shenzhen und Hongkong solche Podiumsdiskussionen selten sind, sind sie umso nötiger.

2007 haben wir in Dalian und in Chengdu „HOMESHOWS“ organisiert, das bedeutet, du zeigst deine Dinge in deiner Wohnung, du kannst Vorträge, Konzerte oder Ausstellungen machen, alles ohne irgendwelche Kosten, deine Wohnung wird zum öffentlichem Raum. Ich stelle immer wieder fest, dass das Schlüsselwort in einer Zivilgesellschaft „Unabhängigkeit“ ist, welche Möglichkeiten hat man, wenn man über geringe Ressourcen verfügt, der eigenen Stimme Ausdruck zu verleihen,? Twittern ist auch so eine Möglichkeit, die eigene Meinung außerhalb offizieller Medien oder großer Medienkonzerne zu äußern, man kann es direkt im Internet tun. Eine Zivilgesellschaft aufzubauen geht nur schrittweise, dafür braucht es das Engagement vieler Menschen. Ich finde, in einer Zeit wie dieser ist es unmöglich, die Gesellschaft durch eine Revolution zu verändern, denn der Preis, den man für eine Revolution zahlen muss, ist einfach zu hoch, vor allem in China, wo die Bevölkerung so groß ist, wenn hier plötzlich ein großer, heftiger Aufstand ausbrechen oder eine einschneidende Umverteilung in der Gesellschaft stattfinden würde, käme es mit Sicherheit zu Unruhen. Deshalb bin ich der Meinung, wenn man die Gesellschaft verändern will, muss man das nach und nach und mit dem Einsatz jedes Einzelnen machen, denn eine Evolution ist wirkungsvoller als eine Revolution.

Viele unserer Events richten sich vor allem an junge Leute. Die Post-1980er-Generation interessiert sich nicht so sehr für gesellschaftliche Fragen, und wenn sie sich dafür interessiert, dann aus pragmatischen Erwägungen, z.B. findet mancher, dass die Kommunistische Partei heute sehr stark ist, und möchte ihr beitreten – das geschieht aus Pragmatismus und nicht aus Idealismus.

Können sich Künstler selbst bei der Shao Foundation um Unterstützung für unabhängige Projekte bewerben?

Wir sind zwar eine Stiftung, aber ich möchte betonen, dass wir eine Organisation sind und keine Geldverteilungsstelle. Ich sehe das so, dass die Shao Foundation viele Ressourcen, einschließlich Sponsorengelder, Wissen und Medien bündelt, um unterschiedlichste Vorhaben durchzuführen und die Gesellschaft zu verändern.

Vielen Dank für das Gespräch, Herr Ou Ning!

Interview/Text: Maja Linnemann, Zheng Hong
Chefredakteurin, Redakteurin des Deutsch-Chinesischen Kulturnetzes
Übersetzung: Andrea Schwedler
April 2010

Zuoxiaozuzhou is one of China’s first experimental musicians, also one of the first artists that settled down in “Beijing East Village” (an avant-garde artistic community of the early 1990s located in the eastern part of Beijing, just past the Third Ring Road on what was then the city’s margins). In 1993, he founded the rock band “No”. Since 1998, he has published seven albums including The Missing Master (1998), Trip to Temple Fair (1999), Zuzhou at Di’anmen (2001), I Can’t Sit Sadly by Your Side (2005), The U.S.A. (2006), You Know Where the East is (2008) and Big Deal (2009).

Over the years, Zuzhou has developed a unique music style. Like his violin performance in early years, his voice is maniac and indifferent. His personalized high-pitch singing staged a vocal revolution in China’s rock scene. After middle 1990s, he has gained fame as stage artist and his artistic exploration expanded to a broader range. In 2000, he published a full-length novel Barking at the Tomb. Zuzhou also produced quite a few soundtracks for independent film directors including Jia Zhangke and Zhu Wen.

In 2010, right after his new album Big Deal was published, Zuzhou decided to hold his first solo concert, named “All the Best”. The concert will present Zuzhou’s music achievement in the past ten years. The production team is consisted of the leading figures in China’s contemporary art, film and theatre scenes. The shining list: Ai Weiwei as chief planner, Ning Hao as creative director, Meng Jinghui as stage director, Jia Zhangke as concert DVD director, Zhu Wen as performance director, Li Yanliang as music director and Fang Wuxing as producer.

Shao Foundation is proud to fully support Zuoxiaozuzhou’s upcoming solo concert. The cross-disiplinary and multi-media performance will surely bring you an unprecedented concert experience.

Date: 19 Mar, 2010
Venue: Beijing Century Theatre

Official Website of Zuoxiaozuzhou
Book tickets online

Reflections：10 Chinese Artists and Their 20s

Curator: Linghu Lei
Opening: 5pm, Jan 20, 2010
Exhibition time: Jan 20 to Feb 5, 2010
Opening hours: 11:00am to 6:00pm everyday
Address: Beijing Angle Modern Art, 4/F, Tower 1, Zhongguo Hongjie (China View), Jia 2 Gongti Dong Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
 
CROSSTALK Beijing #7 Life: Inspiration and Passion

Host: Linghu Lei
Guests: Hu Jiujiu, Pi Li, Rongrong, Philip Tinari,
Time: 14:00, Jan 20, 2010
Address: Beijing Angle Modern Art, 4/F, Tower 1, Zhongguo Hongjie (China View), Jia 2 Gongti Dong Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing

On Jan 20, 2010, the exhibition “Reflections：10 Chinese Artists and Their 20s” will open at Beijing Angle Modern Art. 10 contemporary artists from different realms will use their early works to trigger the discussion of that particular age they belonged to.
Stepping into the last year of the first decade of 21st century, it’s time to review what has come along with us. Today’s important artists had their first shine 20 years ago, with boundless passion and inspirations, paralleling changes and contemplations taking place in this very nation. Their stories simultaneously reflect the enlightenment of the nation’s art field.

This exhibition will touch upon fields including: engraving, painting, device, concept, action and photography etc. Exhibits are mostly unknown works, sketches, unfinished works, even “failed works” which the artists found themselves embarrassed of, together with thoughts and dreams about the work.

The exhibition is inclined to re-open the memory of that age, how these avant-gardes began to fulfill their dreams. This private and mystic period is valued and delivered to audience as a group exhibition. The unique era they lived through still seems nice and warm today.

Traces: Liu Xiaodong

Co-curators: Wu Hung | Ou Ning
Opening Reception: 9pm, September 18, 2009
Exhibition Time: September 18 – November 15, 2009
(Closed during the National Day holiday.)
Opening Hours: 2pm–8pm, Monday–Friday
10am–6pm, Saturday–Sunday
Address: Beijing Angle Modern Art, 4/F, Tower 1, Zhongguo Hongjie (China View), Jia 2 Gongti Dong Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing

CROSSTALK Beijing #6: Archiving and Case Study in Contemporary Art

Guests: Liu Xiaodong, Wu Hung, Ou Ning
Time: 3pm, September 19, 2009
Address: Beijing Angle Modern Art, 4/F, Tower 1, Zhongguo Hongjie (China View), Jia 2 Gongti Dong Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing

As one of the most successful artists in China, Liu Xiaodong’s works are classics in contemporary Chinese art history and an art market phenomenon. In an exhibition of his finished works, an audience or critic can only make a ‘format analysis’ and ‘image/pattern recognition’ during the show. No more information is available. But here, sketches, notes, snapshots, documentary films, conversations and publications are all available, presenting the traces of Liu’s inspirations. In this exhibition, you will see the primary form of his works, revealing and unraveling a process to give an insight and depth beyond the paintings. This wealth of context provides many points of penetration and investigation for case studies: they could be sociological, political or even from a perspective we never expected.

This exhibition is not about work, but process. A finished work signifies the solidification of artistic creation; it is the sprint result on the timer, recorded, and unchangeable. On the other hand, the process signifies time and thought, which is the endless and unquantifiable running itself. A work is destined to be a possession of other people, rarely of the artist himself. Its value is only realized through translocation and collection or appraised and determined by museums, exhibitions, art market, audience, critics and history. But the process will belong exclusively to the artist himself. It is scattered in sketches, notebooks, study rooms and the studio, just as thoughts and memories.

It is the public exhibitions of finished works that made art history; while the trace collection and accumulation of the process that made archive. A work with no traces can’t be art, while a painter with no process can’t be an artist.

Biography:

Liu Xiaodong was born in 1963 in Liaoning, China. He graduated from Central Institute of Fine Arts, Beijing and then studied in Academy of Fine Arts at University of Complutense in Madrid, Spain in 1999. Liu’s first solo exhibition in 1990 lifted the curtain on the New Era in China’s art field. He was titled the representative artist of New Era, and during the same period participated in the making of several independent films, which made him one of the first participants of Chinese independent movies. His major field painting projects since 2004 ranged over several different countries and areas. These projects faced straight up to reality and showed his position, attitude, and power of action as an artist. They extended the connotation of paintings. Liu’s most important works; Pastoral Song, Burning Mouse, Eighteen Soldiers, Three Gorges Series, Qing Zang Railroad, Horse Market, secured his place in both contemporary art history as well as the art market.

Exhibition guide

CROSSTALK: 5:00pm, August 30, 2009 (BAMA)
Inquiry: (86) (10) 6561 0361, info [at] shaofoundation.org.cn

Born in 1977, Ying Liang is a young director in China who has been living in a small town called Zigong in Sichuan province, where most of his films are produced by a crew consisting of his friends and relatives. Taking advantage of the global distribution system in the ‘Long Tail’ era, Ying has managed to secure a place in the international festival circus with his ultra-low budget productions. He is, however, not to be mistaken as one of the many faceless auteurs. He’s dedicated, resourceful, flexible and prolific, with a distinctive personal style. With all three of his feature films and several shorts screened for three rounds in three weekends, Sichuan Chronicles is the most comprehensive presentation of Ying’s works to this date.

(Some of these films are in Sichuan dialect, with Chinese and English subtitles.)

This exhibition is sponsored by Shao Foundation, the opening party will be held at 4:00pm, August 8, 2009 (Saturday).

By Liu Heung Shing, 1979.

Seek Truth from Facts is the first exhibition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Liu Heung Shing in mainland China. It features a selection of Liu’s photos taken from 1978 to 1983, all of which were published in China After Mao: Seek Truth from Facts by Penguin in 1983 (reprinted in 1987 and 1992). The Chinese edition will be published by the World Publishing Company (Shijie Tushu Chuban Gongsi) this September.

Liu Heung Shing was born in Hong Kong in 1951 and graduated from Hunter College of the New York City University in 1975. He was a former foreign correspondent / photojournalist who had been dispatched to China, U.S., India, South Korea, and the former Soviet Union in a span of 20 years. From 1997 to 2000, Liu was the Director of Business Development for Time Warner Inc. in China. He worked for News Corporation (China) as the Executive Vice President from 2000 to 2006. In 1992, Liu shares the Pulitzer Prize and the Overseas Press Club Award for the coverage of the collapse of the Soviet Union. He is currently the Editorial Director of Modern Media Group, which publishes eight magazines including Modern Weekly.

Please visit Three Shadows gallery’s exhibition page for more info on the exhibition.

Inquiry: (8610) 6561 0361, info [at] shaofoundation.org.cn

Free admission. The talk will be in English with consecutive Chinese interpretation.

Shao Foundation is proud to announce CROSSTALK Beijing #4: Public Space as Side Effect: The End of Neo-Liberalism, a talk by Professor Scott Lash from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Disagreeing with Ma Qingyun’s famous dictum ‘There is No Public Space in China’, Lash will look at the terminal crisis of Neo-liberalism with the financial meltdown of 2008 – 09, striving for an understanding of Neo-liberalism in the context of ‘The Washington Consensus’  and financialisation — including especially the corporate bond markets and the triumph of the funds — hedge funds, venture capital, leveraged buyout and private equity. Neo-liberalism will be examined as the competition between monopolies and a certain legalisation of production, including sharply defined property rights. Lash will also elaborate on a possible ‘Beijing Consensus’ of blurred property rights, relationality in place of individualism, and of course a different financial regime. If classical liberalism features market transactions, Neo-liberalism features corporation as the site of transactions. Lash will look at how this creates externalities that is side effects or spillovers from the neo-liberal corporate space, which creates for itself not just environmental damage but also public goods and positive externalities. These externalities include the creation of a certain kind of public space itself — not the public space in the classic western sense, but something else. In his talk, Lash will discuss the implications of this new kind of space for urbanism, the arts and new media, including different possibilities for meta data, semantics and the social web.

Scott Lash is the Director of Centre for Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He’s the author (co-author) of The End of Organized Capitalism, Reflexive Modernization, Critique of Information, Another Modernity, A Different Rationality, Global Culture Industry, Sociology of Postmodernism and Economies of Signs and Space. Currently, Lash is working on a new book called Intensive Culture. He has been doing research on the ‘Risk Culture’ in China, and is a part of Rem Koolhaas’ OMA team for the West Kowloon Culture District bid in Hong Kong.

CROSSTALK Beijing is a new kind of conversation programme conceived and presented by Shao Foundation. We invite artists, scientists, thinkers, architects, designers, historians, sociologists, anthropologists, futurists and software developers to a lecture or conference setting, confronting them with the live feedback from the audience — local and remote — through the use of new web technology known as ‘Micro-blogging’ (a la Twitter). The event is free.

- Scott Lash’s Wikipedia entry.