Spirit Matters: Contemporary art from China
Spirit Matters Exhibition
Research events
Date and time
05 - 26 Jul 2024 (5:00pm)
Price
Free
Spirit Matters: Traditional Culture in Chinese Contemporary Art
Date: 5th—26th July 2024 9:00-17:00 (closed on weekends)
Opening: 5th July, 17:00—18:30
Address: G20, School of Art, Birmingham City University (Margaret Street, Birmingham B3 3BX)
Throughout the 20th century, China experienced dramatic social and political transformations, as a result the traditions of arts and craftsmanship have been interrupted. The consequence of this unique situation is a state of cultural anxiety, whilst contemporary art stands in a pioneering role taking the challenges through critical reassessment, as well as through their endeavour of reconnecting, reconciling and repairing the somehow distant traditions.
In the autumn of 2018, we curated and hosted an exhibition Everyday Legend: Reinventing Traditions in Chinese Contemporary Art at the School of Art, as one of the outputs of our research project funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Following the success of the exhibition and in collaboration with Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, we present this show 'Spirit Matters', as a continuous discussion around Chinese traditions in the context of contemporary art.
Presenting works of painting, installation, and video by six leading Chinese artists, Fan Bo (b. 1966), Guo Gong (b. 1966), Liang Shaoji (b. 1945), Liu Jianhua (b. 1962), Peng Wei (b. 1974), and Xiao Yu (b. 1965), this curatorial project focusses on ‘matter’, examining how these various materials that are rooted in Chinese traditional culture can be examined and reinterpreted in contemporary art practices.
Six different ‘matters’ have been employed respectively by the participating artists – namely, ceramics, silk, bamboo, paper, herbal medicine and wood – as inherently ‘Chinese materials’ with their particular aesthetic qualities and symbolic, spiritual significance.
Curated by Professor Jiang Jiehong
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