Tracing back over time, we find the oracle bone script in Shang Dynasty, the “Every-3-year Archive Evaluation and Cut” in Tang Dynasty, the Classification System of Song Dynasty, the Yellow Book (of census register and military service files) in Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Classified Catalogue in Qing Dynasty and now, the forests of central and local archives. Though it’s beyond the archivists’ reach to change the political-narrative nature of their service, they still have their professional role of “a transmitter and not a maker”, which guides them to “to hear much and put aside the points which stand in doubt”. The perseverance of these individuals provided many independent and effective documents and important resources for researchers today. However, such preservation work supported by an administrative system never benefited the realm of art. Though art galleries, spaces and museums are springing up in China today, very few devoted art collections, archiving and studying institutions are founded. This has much to do with the organization system of these art museums, galleries and collections, the instructive traditional view of art history, and excessive reliance on finished art works. To make matters worse, the commercial trend is pushing the currency value of art works to extremes. Every day, rapid changes in contemporary art generates a huge amount of original documents. With neither supportive administrative power nor capital power, it is desperately hard to collect, sort, archive and study all these files according to Fonds Principles, not to mention digitalizing all of them into databases for more people to share.

Founded in 2000 in Hong Kong, Asia Art Archive has made an important and valuable step forward in this field. Its collection of more than 20,000 projects has become the most comprehensive resource of contemporary Asian art (especially the collection of contemporary Chinese art). It has also made contributions to the preservation, study and promotion of contemporary Asian art by sharing its collection in library and online website with institutions and public all over the world. The achievement of Asia Art Archive is in communicating to the public that archiving is not only an awakening, but more importantly, a prompt action to take up the responsibility of history.

Contemporary historiography has long surpassed the old-fashioned linear narrative, heading in a multi and interdisciplinary direction. It is the same story in the research field of art history:”the most striking feature of the development in art history is that its subject of research, objective and perspectives are expanding rapidly, which led to the increasing influence of the discipline and active participation of common liberal arts and social sciences, as well as its own blurring features and acute identity crisis.” (Wu Hung, Ten Arguments on History of Fine Art, SDXJoint Publishing Company, 2008, p56) In this case, one of the most significant causes of the self disintegration of traditional art history must have been the accumulation and opening of massive, comprehensive documents and files. Once we lay aside our attachments for the independence of art history, various possibilities of artistic creation will be presented to us.

This is the exact reason that we planned the documenta, Traces: Liu Xiaodong. As one of the most successful artists in China, Liu’s works are classics in contemporary Chinese art history, and a miracle in the art market. In an exhibition of his finished works, as an audience or critic, people can only make “format analysis” and “image/pattern recognition”. No more information is available. But in this documenta, sketches, notes, snapshots, documentary films, conversations and publications are all available, presenting the traces of Liu’s inspirations. Here you will see the primary form of his works, transmitted through other media and a process and vast reality beyond his paintings. It provides more points of penetration and investigation for case studies: they can be sociological, political, or even from the perspective we never expected (that would be decided on its encounter with different knowledge structures). As curators of this exhibition, we are only hoping to work in the way documentalists do–”a transmitter and not a maker” and “to hear much and put aside the points which stand in doubt”.Chinese art). It has also made contributions to the preservation, study and promotion of contemporary Asian art by sharing its collection in library and online website with institutions and public all over the world. The achievement of Asia Art Archive is in communicating to the public that archiving is not only an awakening, but more importantly, a prompt action to take up the responsibility of history.

Contemporary historiography has long surpassed the old-fashioned linear narrative, heading in a multi and interdisciplinary direction. It is the same story in the research field of art history:”the most striking feature of the development in art history is that its subject of research, objective and perspectives are expanding rapidly, which led to the increasing influence of the discipline and active participation of common liberal arts and social sciences, as well as its own blurring features and acute identity crisis.” (Wu Hung, Ten Arguments on History of Fine Art, SDXJoint Publishing Company, 2008, p56) In this case, one of the most significant causes of the self disintegration of traditional art history must have been the accumulation and opening of massive, comprehensive documents and files. Once we lay aside our attachments for the independence of art history, various possibilities of artistic creation will be presented to us.