The 3rd Guangzhou Triennial
Source: Guangzhou Triennial website
Please click here: Guangzhou Triennial
The Third Guangzhou Triennial opens from September 6th to November 16th, 2008. Opening preview is (Saturday) September 6th, 2008.
Curators: Gao Shiming, Sarat Maharaj, Chang Tsong-zung
Research Curators: Dorothee Albrecht, Sopawan Boonnimitra, Stina Edblom, Tamar Guimaraes, Guo Xiaoyan, Steve Lam, Khaled D. Ramadan
Organiser: Guangdong Museum of Art
Co-Presenter: Hong Kong Arts Development Council
FAREWELL TO POST-COLONIALISM
1. Concept：Farewell to Post-Colonialism
For the curatorial discourse of this Triennial, we propose to say ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’. This represents the theoretical basis from which we hope to explore our critical vision. ‘Farewell to Post-colonialism’ is not a denial of the importance and rewards of this intellectual tradition; in the real world, the political conditions criticised by post-colonialism have not receded, but in many ways are even further entrenched under the machinery of globalisation. However, as a leading discourse for art curatorial practice and criticism, post-colonialism is showing its limitations in being increasingly institutionalised as an ideological concept. Not only is it losing its edge as a critical tool, it has generated its own restrictions that hinder the emergence of artistic creativity and fresh theoretical interface. To say ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’ is not simply a departure, but a re-visit and a re-start.
2008 will be forty years since the heady days of 1968. In four decades, waves of new social movement and multi-cultural theories have woven a tapestry of rich and clashing colours out of the world’s changing social realities. International contemporary art has also benefited from the attention to socio-political issues surrounding identity, race, gender and class. But over the years, revolutionary concepts have also transformed into leading discourses safely guarded by ‘political correctness’. Post-colonial discourse’s analysis of the power structure within cultural expressions has triggered a series of cultural resistance, as well as guided the construction of the self as a Subject in relation to the Other. However, these forms of analysis and construction have also adversely developed an institutionalised pluralistic landscape (a multi-cultural ‘managerialism’) that has today turned into a new form of stereotyping. In this Triennial we wish to draw attention to the ‘political correctness at large’ that is the result of the power play of multi-culturalism, identity politics and post-colonial discourse. Urgent issues facing curatorial practice today are: How do we establish an ‘ethics of difference’ within the framework of difference in cultural production? How do we prevent a ‘tyranny of the Other’ without sacrificing the grounds already gained against the power status quo?
For some years major international contemporary exhibitions around the world have worked towards building up ‘discursive sites for a cacophony of voices’ and ‘negotiated spaces of diverse values’, emphasising ‘correctness’ in cultural politics; these have inadvertently triumphed to the neglect of independent pursuit of artistic creativity and alternative imaginative worlds. Concepts of identity, multiplicity and difference are now slowly losing their edge to become new restrictions for artistic practice, succumbing to the phenomena of ‘false representation’ and ‘multi-cultural managerialism’. In response to this, the curatorial project of the Third Guangzhou Triennial centres on mulling over multi-culturalism and its limits within the larger perspective of ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’.
The ‘Farewell’ calls for the renovation of the theoretical interface of contemporary art, in order to depart from its all pervasive socio-political discourse in an endeavour to work together with artists and critics to discover new modes of thinking and fresh analytical tools for today’s world. The curators hope this Triennial will be a process of discovery for ourselves, and not just the fleshing out and illustrating of readymade theories and preconceived ideas. In trying to explore what this Triennial ‘is’, we wish to carry out a parallel inquiry into what it should not be. In this sense, this Triennial may be understood as a locus of questions for all of us involved in the international art world, starting with an Exercise in Negation. We hope to uncover, with the help of artists and thinkers, elements of the paradoxical reality veiled by contemporary cultural discourse, to make contact with realms that slip through the cracks of well-worn concepts such as class, gender, tribe and hybridity. We hope to think together with artists and critics, and investigate through their practices and projects to find what new modes and imaginative worlds are possible for art beyond those already heavily mapped out by socio-political discourses.
2. Issue: Anxiety of Creativity and Possible Worlds
Our mode of existence today is strongly shaped by a web of dominant cultural discourses, which not only affects the ways we perceive the world, but also constitutes a new context in which we think about issues of artistic ‘creativity’. On the one hand, conflicts between social reality and ideal, and negotiations between multiple cultural values have inextricably implicated contemporary art in social and political issues, making art increasingly important in social and political engagement, putting on art greater responsibility to engage and interact with society. The direct impact of this has been the neglect of discussion about creativity. On the other hand, outside the realm of art, from the technological world, the challenge of fresh stimulation and new existential experience through internet and virtual imaging have popularised hyper-reality, virtual history, Second Life game and etc. This new media reality has by now constituted a new experiential ‘subject’ and created the possibility for substitute lives. In short, everyday life is rapidly developing a richness and an imaginative dimension that seriously challenge the myth of fine art. ‘Multiplicity’ of social existence is no longer limited to the cultural diversity of different kinds of social ‘tribes’, but also points to the multiple life-worlds and existential fields that are present in every single individual. Today, ‘alien existence’ is not simply about living among ‘the Other’, but is equally about ‘diverse existence’ found within every corporeal being. It is about thought and living experimentation that is taking place in each body, and about forays into foreign territories within ourselves. In view of this new reality, we have invited scholars, artists and writers to share with us their thoughts on:
· How is ‘creativity’ possible within the present cultural-existential context?
· In the age of hyper-reality and internet existence, when we can readily access alternative realities and other live-worlds through virtual technology, what does transgressing reality mean to artists?
· What does ‘creativity’ implicate?
· What do ‘possible worlds’ implicate?
· How do we redefine the relation between art and reality?
3. Forums in Motion
This Triennial aims to be an international platform of research and artistic creativity, on which artists and scholars may exchange their special experiences. In order to stimulate discussions, and broaden the base for participation, Guangzhou Triennial has organized a series of workshops and conferences under “Forums in Motion”. These Forums have taken place in London, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Huangshan Mountain<
Making works at the museum
We are very excited to report on the 4 artists who are making their works for the Guangzhou Triennial at our museum:
Maria Thereza Alves is a conceptual artist from America. She is the first artist to work at our museum for the Triennial. The museum staff would like to take photos for her while she is working, but she declines gently. She only agrees us to take photos for one of the materials that she employs for art making, the ink-wash works on paper. To gather materials for her works after she arrived at Guangzhou, she has already been to Hong Kong and other cities, and has taken a lot of pictures which show the lives of the citizens, such as buildings with windows and doors protected by iron bars. Besides, she has also got a big collection of calendars during the period of Republic of China with pictures of fair ladies printed on them. She has taken photos of these calendars.
One of Maria’s materials for art making
One of Maria’s materials for art making
John Kelly is an elegant gentleman from Ireland. He prefers quiet life and the museum staff find it not so easy to meet him. But he has a very active assistant who tells us that Kelly’s work would involve more interactions with the audiences. At present, Kelly’s work is almost finished.
Michelle Heon is a conceptual artist from Canada, who is very energetic. It took her 3 days to come from Canada to our museum, but she immediately set out to work the day after her arrival. Our museum staff are quite impressed by her unusual energy. She went to the market in person to select materials and bought a lot of steel cubes and bamboos. She intends to make a big boat of about 5 to 6 meters long.
Michelle working at the main entrance hall of GDMoA
Michelle working at the main entrance hall of GDMoA
Michelle working at the main entrance hall of GDMoA
Joseph DeLappe comes from America. He is going to make a huge statue of Gandhi using a kind of grey paper board. The work will also be projected by slide projector and creates quite three-dimensional effects. Joseph’s work plan is very interesting to many people，and has attracted many volunteers to help him.
Joseph’s Gandhi being made
Joseph’s Gandhi being made
ARTIST LIST OF THE THIRD GUANGZHOU TRIENNIAL
Projects in Progress
Chen Chieh-jen (Taiwan, China)
Amy Cheung (Hong Kong, China)
Cláudia Cristóvão (Angola/Portugal/ the Netherlands)
feld72（Austria）
Feng Mengbo (China)
Christian Jankowski (Germany)
Liu Dahong (China)
Long March Project: Lu Jie (China/USA), Xiao Xiong (China), Zhao Gang (China/USA)
Daniel Malone (New Zealand/Poland)
Carlos Garaicoa Manso（Cuba）
Trinh T. Minh-ha (Vietnam/USA)
Bundith Phunsombatlert (Thailand)
Qiu Zhijie & Total Art Studio (China)
Yang Fudong (China)
Ye Wei-li & Wu Yu-hsin (Taiwan, China)
Zheng Bo (Hong Kong, China)
Zheng Guogu (China)
Thinking Room
Maria Thereza Alves (Brazil/USA)
Zarina Bhimji (UK)
Ecke Bonk (Germany)
Chen Tong (China) & Jean－Philippe Toussaint(France)
Emily Cheng (USA)
Thembinkosi Goniwe (South Africa)
Hu Xiangcheng & Luo Ping (China)
Huang Yongping (China/France)
Matts Leiderstam (Sweden)
Liu Wei (China)
Tozer Pak (Hong Kong, China)
Qiu Anxiong (China)
Qiu Shiming (China)
Tank TV (UK)
Inga Svala Thorsdottir (Iceland)
Wang Jianwei (China)
Wu Shanzhuan (China)
Zhang Hui (China)
Zhu Yu (China)
Free Radicals
Hamra Abbas (Pakistan)
Georges Adéagbo（Benin）
Conrad Botes (South Africa)
Matthew Buckingham (USA)
Lyn Carter (Canada)
Cheng Ran (China)
Maria Magdalena Compos-Pons&Neil Leonard (Cuba/USA)
Joseph DeLappe (USA)
Allan deSouza (Kenya/USA) & Yong Soon Min (Korea/USA)
Dilomprizulike (Nigeria)
Maria Eichhorn (Germany)
Mary Evans (Nigeria/UK)
Archana Hande (India)
Sharon Hayes (USA)
Kiluanji Kia Henda（Angola ）
Michelle Heon (Canada)
Nicholas Hlobo (South Africa)
Huang Xiaopeng (China/UK)
Jia Aili (China)
Jitish Kallat (India)
John Kelly (Ireland)
Tomoko Konoike (Japan)
Kesang Lamdark (Switzerland/ China)
Simon Leung (USA/Hong Kong, China)
Lin + Lam (Vietnam/USA/Canada)
Hew Locke (UK)
Liu Heung Shing (Hong Kong, China)
Felipe Mujica (Chile/USA)
Huma Mulji (Pakistan)
Vik Muniz (USA/Brazil)
Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba (Japan/Vietnam)
Dalkh-Ochir (Mongolia)
Uriel Orlow (UK/Switzerland)
Steve Ouditt (Trinidad)
Amilcar Packer（Brazil）
Jenny Perlin (USA)
Khaled Ramadan& Larissa Sansour (Lebanon)
Hans Hamid Rasmussen (Norway)
Neo Rauch (Germany)
Shao Yinong&Mu Chen (China)
Josephine Starrs & Leon Cmielewski (Australia)
Kai Syng Tan (Singapore)
Althea Thauberger (Canada)
Barthélémy Toguo (Cameron/France)
Gabriel Acevedo Velarde (Lima)
Wang Jiahao (China)
Wu Junyong (China)
Xu Zhen (China)
Yang Jiecang (Germany/China)
Ye Fang (China)
Zheng Duanxiang (China)
Yi Zhou (Italy/Hong Kong, China)
Independent Projects
1. Middle East Channel
Dalia Al-Kury (Jordan)
Yasmina Ben Ari (Egypt)
Mireille AstorE (Lebanon)
Reem Bader (Jordan)
Kaya Behkalam (Iran)
Alia El Bialy (Egypt)
Hisham Bizri (Lebanon)
Shahram Entekhabi (Iran)
Lamia Joreige (Lebanon)
Khaled Kafez (Egypt)
Gülsün Karamustafa (Turkey)
Nadine Khan (Egypt)
Shula Lipski (Lebanon)
Waheeda Malullah (Bahrain)
WaëL Noureddine (Lebanon)
Ahmet Ogut (Turkey)
Ayman Ramadan (Egypt)
Hamed Sahihi (Iran)
Larissa Sansour ( Palestine / USA)
Silke Schmickl (Germany)
Rania Stephan (Lebanon)
Wooloo Productions (Denmark)
Nanna Guldhammer Wraae (Denmark)
Akram Zaatari (Lebanon)
2. Now in Coming
Marc Behrens (Germany)
Jens Brand (Germany)
Duan Jianyu (China)
Gao Shiqiang (China)
Liu Xiaodong (China)
Qin Qi (China)
Wang Yin (China)
Werner Herzog (Germany)
Poet Group (Xiao Kaiyu &Jiang Tao & Ma Yan, China)
Sound Unit（Zhang Anding &Zhong Minjie &Lin Zhiying, China）
3. East-South, Out of Sight
Amir Muhammad (Malaysia)
Riri Riza (Indonesia)
Matyn See (Singapore)
Tsai Ming Liang (Malaysia/Taiwan, China)
Apichartpong Weerasethkul (Thailand)
4. Mornings in Mexicos
Kristina Ask (Denmark)
Daniel Andersson (Finland)
Avi Alpert (USA)
Eric Anglès (France/USA)
Ricardo Cuevas (Mexico)
Asa Elzen (Sweden)
Tamar Guimaraes (UK/Danmark/Brazil)
Carla Herrerra-Prats (USA/Mexico)
Jesal Kapadia (USA/India)
Jeuno Kim (Korea/Sweden)
Runo Lagomarsino (Sweden/Argentina)
Steven Lam (USA)
Erin Ming Lee (USA)
Sarah Lookofsky (Denmark/USA)
Kasper Akhøj (Denmark)
Sreshta Rit Premnath (USA/India)
Rebecka Thor (Sweden)
Edward Schexnayder (USA)
5. Organizing Mutation
Tobias Berger (Germany/Hong Kong, China)
Ade Darmawan (Malaysia)
Michael Lee Hong-Hwee (Singapore/ Hong Kong, China)
Lee Kit (Hong Kong, China)
Lee Weng Choy (Singapore)
Leung Chi Wo (Hong Kong, China)
Roger McDonald (Japan)
Arin Rungjang (Thailand)
Masahiro Wada (Japan)
Doris Wong Wai Yin (Hong Kong, China)
Haegue Yang (Germany/Korea)
6. Tea Pavilion
Jaishri Abichandani (India/ USA)
Dorothee Albrecht (Germany)
Corazon Amaya-Canete (Philippines) and Moira Zoitl (Austria)
Sopawan Boonnimitra (Thailand)
Daniela Comani (Italy)
Different Voices (Nepal/Denmark/Sweden)
Dreams of Art Spaces Collected (Transnational artistic group project)
Stina Edblom (Sweden)
Thomas Locher (Germany)
Elke Marhoefer (Germany)
Giancarlo Pazzanese (Chile)
Oda Projesi (Turkey)
Reynold Reynolds (USA)
Asa Sonjasdotter (Sweden)
Mayling To (UK)
UNWETTER (Transnational artistic group project)
Lee Kit (China) & Vitamin Creative Space (China)
Pablo Wendel (Germany)
7. Mapping Currents for the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial
Stina Edblom (Sweden)
Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong, China)
CURATORS
GAO SHIMING
Deputy Director of the Advanced School of Art and Humanities, China Academy of Art. His subject is visual culture research, contemporary art studies and curatorial practice. He has participate in many exhibitions of academic standing, including the research project ‘The Migration of Asian Contemporary Art and Geo-politics’ 2002-2003; ‘Techniques of the Visible’ the 5th Shanghai Biennial 2004; ‘In the Depth of Reality: Contemporary Chinese Art’ and ‘Asian Time: New Media Art Exhibition’, 2005; ‘Micrology: Micro-politics in Chinese Contemporary Art’ and ‘The Yellow Box: Contemporary Art and Architecture in a Chinese Space’, 2006; Alchemy of Shadow: the 3rd Lianzhou International Photography Festival, 2007. He has published several books include Visual Thinking: Intangible Dialogue between Art and Phenomenology, 2002; Edges of the Earth: Migration of Contemporary Art and Geo-politics in Asia, 2003; Mask and Mirror: Visual Studies on the Real and Reality. Curatorial practice for Gao is a kind of critical-creative action. He believes in the contemporary significance of bringing together action and subjective knowledge. He also firmly believes in curatorial work as a form of ‘writing in practice’ within the dark room of history. Since 2002 his work has been guided by a special form of cultural thinking, which is: how to start afresh from intellectual discourse, depart from the habits of identity politics and contextual studies, and seek inspiration from the depth of reality, in order to stimulate creativity, and find a form of interventional representation for contemporary art and visual culture.
SARAT MAHARAJ
Professor of Art History & Theory at Goldsmiths College where he is now Visiting Research Professor. Currently, he is Professor of Visual Art and Knowledge Systems, Lund University, Sweden. He was the first Rudolf Arnheim Professor, Humboldt University, Berlin (2001-2002) and Research Fellow at the Jan Van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht (1999-2001). His specialist research covers Marcel Duchamp, James Joyce and Richard Hamilton. His current research spans Visual Art as Knowledge Production & Non-Knowledge -and the concept of ‘thinking through the visual’. His expanded research, experimental writing and publications cover: Visual Art as Knowledge Production, Textiles, Cultural Translation and Difference -and the contemporary ‘convergence’ of image, sound and movement and consciousness studies (Knowledge Lab 2005 & 2006 Berlin) and New Media Art Lab, Banff, Canada 2007. Sarat Maharaj’s curatorial contributions include: co-curating Documenta 11, 2002 and with Ecke Bonk and Richard Hamilton retinal.optical.visual.conceptual……on Marcel Duchamp (Boymanns, Rotterdam. 2002) The Knowledge Lab (Haus der Kulturen der Welt 2005-2006 took in sound/image/movement experiments with Liu Sola (Beijing/NY) and Kofi Koko (Benin/Paris). With Stuart Hall, his publications include Modernity & Difference (INIVA. London). His published and new essays will be brought together in Work in Progress: Collected Writings (MIT.2009). Maharaj's theoretical competence, combined with his willingness to bring the concepts of cultural, diversity and difference to a more public forum, make him a key intellectual voice on the Continent today.
JOHNSON CHANG TSONG ZUNG
curator, co-founder of the Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong, co-founder of the Hong Kong chapter of AICA, guest professor of Visual Culture Institute, China Art Academy. He has been active in curating Chinese exhibitions since the 1980s; he pioneered participation of Chinese art in international exhibitions, and was instrumental in establishing the international image of Chinese contemporary art of the 1990s. As a curator with strong attachments to the literati tradition, he firmly believes that contemporary art should have unique responsibilities under different contexts and take diverse paths. One of his main interests is the angle of contribution Chinese art may open up to the world. In recent years, his activities have centred around the theme: ‘revival of Chinese visual and material culture’ through the intervention of curatorial practice. These projects involve artefacts, space and ritual, forming a special and unique chapter in Chinese contemporary art. His exhibitions include ‘China’s New Art Post-1989’ in 1993; Special Exhibitions at the Sao Paulo International Biennial in 1994 and 1996; the ‘Power of the Word’ series of exhibitions, 1999; Hong Kong Project at Sao Paulo Biennial 1996 and Venice Biennial 2001; ‘Strange Heaven: Chinese Contemporary Photography’, 2002; ‘Open Asia: International Sculpture Exhibition’ in Venice 2005; ‘Yellow Box’ series of research projects about contemporary art practice and Chinese space, 2004-2006; ‘A Lu Ban Experience: Revival of the Countryside’, special project of Sao Paulo Architectural Biennale 2007.
GAO SHIMING
Deputy Director of the Advanced School of Art and Humanities, China Academy of Art. His subject is visual culture research, contemporary art studies and curatorial practice. He has participate in many exhibitions of academic standing, including the research project ‘The Migration of Asian Contemporary Art and Geo-politics’ 2002-2003; ‘Techniques of the Visible’ the 5th Shanghai Biennial 2004; ‘In the Depth of Reality: Contemporary Chinese Art’ and ‘Asian Time: New Media Art Exhibition’, 2005; ‘Micrology: Micro-politics in Chinese Contemporary Art’ and ‘The Yellow Box: Contemporary Art and Architecture in a Chinese Space’, 2006; Alchemy of Shadow: the 3rd Lianzhou International Photography Festival, 2007. He has published several books include Visual Thinking: Intangible Dialogue between Art and Phenomenology, 2002; Edges of the Earth: Migration of Contemporary Art and Geo-politics in Asia, 2003; Mask and Mirror: Visual Studies on the Real and Reality. Curatorial practice for Gao is a kind of critical-creative action. He believes in the contemporary significance of bringing together action and subjective knowledge. He also firmly believes in curatorial work as a form of ‘writing in practice’ within the dark room of history. Since 2002 his work has been guided by a special form of cultural thinking, which is: how to start afresh from intellectual discourse, depart from the habits of identity politics and contextual studies, and seek inspiration from the depth of reality, in order to stimulate creativity, and find a form of interventional representation for contemporary art and visual culture.
SARAT MAHARAJ
Professor of Art History & Theory at Goldsmiths College where he is now Visiting Research Professor. Currently, he is Professor of Visual Art and Knowledge Systems, Lund University, Sweden. He was the first Rudolf Arnheim Professor, Humboldt University, Berlin (2001-2002) and Research Fellow at the Jan Van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht (1999-2001). His specialist research covers Marcel Duchamp, James Joyce and Richard Hamilton. His current research spans Visual Art as Knowledge Production & Non-Knowledge -and the concept of ‘thinking through the visual’. His expanded research, experimental writing and publications cover: Visual Art as Knowledge Production, Textiles, Cultural Translation and Difference -and the contemporary ‘convergence’ of image, sound and movement and consciousness studies (Knowledge Lab 2005 & 2006 Berlin) and New Media Art Lab, Banff, Canada 2007. Sarat Maharaj’s curatorial contributions include: co-curating Documenta 11, 2002 and with Ecke Bonk and Richard Hamilton retinal.optical.visual.conceptual……on Marcel Duchamp (Boymanns, Rotterdam. 2002) The Knowledge Lab (Haus der Kulturen der Welt 2005-2006 took in sound/image/movement experiments with Liu Sola (Beijing/NY) and Kofi Koko (Benin/Paris). With Stuart Hall, his publications include Modernity & Difference (INIVA. London). His published and new essays will be brought together in Work in Progress: Collected Writings (MIT.2009). Maharaj's theoretical competence, combined with his willingness to bring the concepts of cultural, diversity and difference to a more public forum, make him a key intellectual voice on the Continent today.
JOHNSON CHANG TSONG ZUNG
curator, co-founder of the Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong, co-founder of the Hong Kong chapter of AICA, guest professor of Visual Culture Institute, China Art Academy. He has been active in curating Chinese exhibitions since the 1980s; he pioneered participation of Chinese art in international exhibitions, and was instrumental in establishing the international image of Chinese contemporary art of the 1990s. As a curator with strong attachments to the literati tradition, he firmly believes that contemporary art should have unique responsibilities under different contexts and take diverse paths. One of his main interests is the angle of contribution Chinese art may open up to the world. In recent years, his activities have centred around the theme: ‘revival of Chinese visual and material culture’ through the intervention of curatorial practice. These projects involve artefacts, space and ritual, forming a special and unique chapter in Chinese contemporary art. His exhibitions include ‘China’s New Art Post-1989’ in 1993; Special Exhibitions at the Sao Paulo International Biennial in 1994 and 1996; the ‘Power of the Word’ series of exhibitions, 1999; Hong Kong Project at Sao Paulo Biennial 1996 and Venice Biennial 2001; ‘Strange Heaven: Chinese Contemporary Photography’, 2002; ‘Open Asia: International Sculpture Exhibition’ in Venice 2005; ‘Yellow Box’ series of research projects about contemporary art practice and Chinese space, 2004-2006; ‘A Lu Ban Experience: Revival of the Countryside’, special project of Sao Paulo Architectural Biennale 2007.
RESEARCH CURATORS
DOROTHEE ALBRECHT
lives in Berlin. She was participant of the Critical Studies Course in Malmo. She is a founding member of the artist collective UNWETTER, of the KUNSTHALLE BERLIN-LICHTENBERG and of the project DREAMS OF ART SPACES COLLECTED. After completing her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart in 1998 Dorothee Albrecht has been developing spatial investigations and journeys through Europe to India and South Africa. In her work different artistic formats are generated through the combination of the most differing aspects, which she finds on her travels. She makes these found pieces into spatial installations, which put the complexity of the material and problems up for discussion. She connects video-material with other images, texts, photos, objects and sound-recordings, not shying back from traditionally irreconcilable moments. One of her projects THE VIDEOATLAS invites members and collaborators of groups and collectives, which explore non-academic or otherwise marginal fields of knowledge-production to talk about their projects. These may include small try-outs, soft and delicate attempts, convincing and very professional strategies, all seeking to build up new methods and channels to challenge hegemonic worldviews.
SOPAWAN BOONNIMITRA
lives and works in Bangkok, Thailand. She has been a lecturer at the Department of Motion Pictures and Still Photography, Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University since 1996. She is now combining her teaching, researching, practising, writing, and curating. She started her PhD in History of Arts at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where she was promoted to PhD candidate in 2002. She then transferred to Malmo Art Academy, Lund University in 2004 where she received her PhD in Visual Arts in Fine Arts, September, 2006. Her interest lies in exploring spatial representation in relation to social issues. Her thesis focuses on the contemporary urban conditions with special reference to Thai homosexuality. She recently engaged with the issue of immigrants, particularly the Burmese immigrants in Thailand. She is currently working on two research projects where she continues to employ artistic research to her advantage. One is on the representation of space in relation to sexuality in Thai independent cinema during the years 2000 to 2005. The other one is on the situation of immigrants in relation to the notion of ‘home’. She started her career in filmmaking in 1996 in the Thai film industry. She has worked on both fictional and documentary films. Through her works and research since 1996, she has also curated various film programmes such as the first gay and lesbian film festival, Alternative Love Film Festival, in Bangkok in 1998, documentary as well as various short-film programmes. In addition, she curated Lak-ka-pid-lak-ka-perd: The Bangkok Invisible Landscapes in 2005, which included a conference, art exhibition, film competition and screening.
STINA EDBLOM
completed a Masters degree in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths College, 2007. Previous to this she worked and studied History of Art and Museology in Sweden as well as in Cape Town, South Africa, where she completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Museum and Heritage Studies in 2001. After furthering her research in South Africa and completed an internship at the curatorial department at the South African National Gallery, Stina curated the exhibition Voicing the Abstract with South African artists Ernestine White, Thembeka Quangule and Trish Lovemore. In 2005/6 Stina initiated and worked as project manager for the Swedish/South African cultural partnership Gender Equity in the Visual Arts: Women in Dialogue. The project was a collaboration between Arts and Media Access Center (AMAC) in Cape Town and Wiks People’s College in Uppsala, Sweden. Stina’s research focus has primarily engaged with issues of cultural difference, representation, politics of identity and the development of new geographies and circuits of entanglements in relation to art from the African continent and beyond. She has published in Artlink Magazine and edited the catalogue to the exhibition Women’s Spaces. Throughout the years she has been invited to hold numerous public presentations, among them at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. Stina Edblom currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.
TAMAR GUIMARAES
Tamar Guimarães (b. Belo Horizonte, Brazil) is an artist based in Copenhagen and New York. Thinking of documents as palimpsests, her practice proposes historical narratives as contingent and fluid, but also as spaces from which one can speculate on the present. She's involved in the organization of small, intimate gatherings, collective readings, small-scale public talks and film screenings, invested on the possibilities of creating transient micro-communities and minor public events. Guimarães recent exhibitions include Interfacing, Magnus Muller Gallery, Berlin, 2008; I know the world, Smart Project Space, Amsterdam, 2008; CPH DOX international documentary film festival, Copenhagen, 2007; Crosskick, Hanover Kunsthalle, Hanover, 2007; Fair Play Award, Play Gallery, Berlin, 2007; Summer School, Organized by HOMEWORKS, PS122 Gallery, New York, 2007; Thinking Aloud, Overgaden, Copenhagen, 2006; Rethinking Nordic Colonialism: A Postcolonial Exhibition Project in Five Acts, Nuuk, Greenland, 2006. She is a studio fellow of the Whitney Independent Study Program in 2007-2008.
GUO XIAOYAN
Guo Xiaoyan, 2007 till now is the Chief Curator in Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, during 2002-2007 she was the Vice Dean of Guangzhou Triennial Office in Guangdong Museum of Art, curator of Guangdong Museum of Art, 1999-2002 she took part in the founding and organizing work of Upriver Gallery, which is the first private owned gallery in China. She has been curating and organizing series of exhibition projects as well as academic symposiums, such as working as curator of ‘Pictures on the Earth－Photograph by Wim Wenders’, curator of ‘Unfinished-Architectures by ISOZAKI Arata’, curator of ‘Architectures in Post-plan Time-Dialogue with ISOZAKI Arata’ Seminar, curator of ‘Dijon-Shanghai-Guangzhou: Solo Exhibition of Yan Peiming’, curator of ‘Liu Xiaodong: Painting from Life (Solo Exhibition of Liu Xiaodong)’, co-curator of ‘2nd Guangzhou Triennial’, co-curator of ‘D-Labs’, Co-curator of ‘Exhibition Series about Artistic Phenomena and Situations since 1985’, such as ‘From Polar Region to Tie Xi Qu: Contemporary Art Exhibition in Northeast China’, co-curator of ‘Aftershock-Contemporary British Art 1990-2006’, curator of ‘City-Net Asia (China Pavilion)’ in Seoul Museum of Art, co-curator of ‘Our Future: The Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation Collection’.
STEVE LAM
has an MFA from the University of California, Irvine and currently teaches Art History and Theory at the School of Visual Arts, NYC, and is currently a Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellow at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program and will premiere an exhibition in May 2008, entitled "For Reasons of State" at the Kitchen, NYC. Additionally Lam
MOVING SYMPOSIUM OF THE THIRD GUANGZHOU TRIENNIAL - Hong Kong Stop
Anxiety of Creativity and Possible Worlds
Theme: Anxiety of Creativity and Possible Worlds
Time: 6th Jul and 7th Jul, 2008
Avenue: Hong Kong
Hosts: Gao Shiming, Chang Tsong-zung
Participants: Wang Huangsheng, Ru Guolie, Tozer Bak, Amy Cheng, Zheng Bo, Zhou Yi, Leung Chi Wo, Tobias Berger, Chen Yun, Qiu Anxiong, Li Tuo, Ouyang Jianghe, Xi Chuan, Zhao Zhenkai, Zhong Gang, Stuart Sim, Ecke Bonk, Sara Diamond, Gertrud Sandqvist, Daniel Malone, Anne Spilar, etc
Our mode of existence today is strongly shaped by a web of dominant cultural discourses, which not only affects the ways we perceive the world, but also constitutes a new context in which we think about issues of artistic‘creativity’. On the one hand, conflicts between social reality and ideal, and negotiations between multiple cultural values have inextricably implicated contemporary art in social and political issues, making art increasingly important in social and political engagement, putting on art greater responsibility to engage and interact with society. On the other hand, this has resulted in the neglect of issues of creativity. Outside the realm of art, from the technological world, the challenge of fresh stimulation and new existential experience through internet and virtual imaging have recently brought to us hyper-reality, virtual history, Second Life game and etc. This new media reality has by now constituted a new experiential‘subject’and created the possibility for substitute lives. In short, everyday life is rapidly developing a richness and an imaginative dimension that seriously challenge the myth of fine art.‘Multiplicity’of social existence is no longer limited to the cultural diversity of different kinds of social‘tribes’, but also points to the multiple life-worlds and existential fields that are present in every single individual. Today, ‘alien existence’is not simply about living among‘the Other’, but is equally about ‘diverse existence’ found within every corporeal being. It is about thought and living experimentation that is taking place in each body, and about forays into foreign territories within ourselves. In view of this new reality, we have invited some 30 scholars, artists and writers to meet in Hong Kong, and share with us their thoughts on:
· How is‘creativity’possible within the present cultural-existential context?
· In the age of hyper-reality and internet existence, when we can readily access alternative realities and other live-worlds through virtual technology, what does transgressing reality mean to artists?
· What does‘creativity’implicate?
· What does‘possible worlds’implicate?
· How do we redefine the relation between art and reality?
Hong Kong Conference.
Director Wang Huangsheng is giving a welcome lecture.
Louis Yu, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Art Development Council.
The curator Mr. Gao Shiming.
The Curator Mr. Chang Tsong-zung.
Pro. Stuart Sim
Pro. Gertrud Sandqvist.
Pro. Sara Diamond
The artist Daniel Malone.
Ecke Bonk.
The poets.
Huangfu Binghui.
The young artists from Hong Kong are introducing their work.
Scholar, Zhang Ning.
The lechers are answering the questions.
The artists, Sara Diamond, Ecke Bonk, Bai Shuangqian, Amy Cheung, and Zheng Bo.
The audiences are questioning.
UNPACKING PROJECTS-IN-PROGRESS
HUANGSHAN WORKSHOP
Date: April 13th to 18th, 2008
Venue: Huangshan
Participants: Gao Shiming, Sarat Maharaj, Chang Tsong-zung, Wang Huangsheng, Shaoshan, Tamar Guimaraes, Steve Lam, Sopawan Boonnimitra, Khaled D. Ramadan, Dorothee Albrecht, Stina Edblom, Gertrud Sandqvist, Zhu Yu, Liu Wei, Qiu Zhijie, Guo Xiaoyan, Cui Qiao, Lu Jie, Zoe Magdalen Butt, Chen Chieh-jen, Zheng Huihua, Ye Weili, Huang Xiaopeng, Liu Dahong, Zheng Bo, Claudia Cristovao, Inga Svala Thorsdottir, Lyn Carter, Bundith Phunsombatlert, etc.
From April 13th to 18th, 2008, the second stop of ‘Moving Symposium’ of the Third Guangzhou Triennial, Huangshan Workshop, was held at Huangshan Mountain, China.
In this workshop, the curatorial team launched 15 ‘Projects-in-Progress’ as the debating platform of the Third Guangzhou Triennial. These ‘Projects-in-Progress’ raised and executed by artists and project curators from all over the world give response to and extend the theoretical perspective of this Triennial, ‘Farewell to Post-Colonialism’. They will present together the field that the post-colonial discourse cannot reach, and the reality it cannot represent, as well as the art practice it cannot describe. As an important debating platform of the Third Guangzhou Triennial, ‘Projects-in-Progress’ is related to the forming of Triennial’s academic vision, and the construction of exhibition. The ‘Projects-in-Progress’ will assemble social research and art practices of about 40 artists, curators and Scholars. ‘Projects-in-Progress’ will be the core of 2008 Guangzhou Triennial Reader II which will be published in August, 2008.
Curators Gao Shiming, Sarat Maharaj, Chang Tsong-zung and Director of GDMoA, Wang Huangsheng
Spot Scene
Spot Scene
Curators, Research Curators, Director of GDMoA and guests
Research Curator Khaled D. Ramadan doing presentation
Research Curator Sopawan Boonnimitra doing presentation
Research Curator Tamar Guimaraes, Steve Lam doing presentation
Research Curator Dorothee Albrecht doing presentation
Research Curator Stina Edblom doing presentation
Curators and Research Curators discussing
Professor Gertrud Sandqvist making a speech
An artist raising a question
