Information

The First Guangzhou Triennial Fact Sheet

November 18, 2002 – January 19, 2003

The ten years from 1990 to 2000 represented a crucial stage in the development of Chinese experimental art. Thoroughly internationalized, this art also responded to tremendous changes in Chinese society. Many artists devoted themselves to experimenting with new art media and forms, exploring new territories in artistic expression and representation. Their work attracted worldwide attention among art critics and curators, and played an increasingly important role in shaping domestic visual culture in Mainland China.

Since it was opened to the public in 1997, the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou (Canton), China, has been promoting the research and presentation of modern and contemporary Chinese art. Hence, it has initiated the Guangzhou Triennial, beginning with the current exhibition entitled Reinterpretation: A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art (1990-2000).

As the first comprehensive survey of Chinese experimental art of the 1990s, The First Guangzhou Triennial features the most significant works created in these ten years. The title, Reinterpretation, highlights the organizer's intention to provide a systematic introduction to and explanation of these works in their artistic, cultural, social, and political context. The main part of the exhibition includes three thematic sections – “Memory and Reality”, “Self and Environment”, and “Global and Local”. An additional section, titled "Experimentation Continues", features works by fifteen invited artists whose work indicates new directions in contemporary Chinese art after the year 2000.

Place and Model: A Symposium on Contemporary Art Exhibitions
organized by the Guangdong Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Art Development Council

In conjunction with the First Guangzhou Triennial:

November 16 - 17, 2002 at the Hong Kong Art Museum

November 19 - 20, 2002 at the Guangdong Museum of Art

In conjunction with this exhibition, the Guangdong Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Art Development Council will organize an international symposium on contemporary art exhibitions and curatorial practices. This symposium will bring together museum directors, curators, and critics in and out of China to discuss some major issues: How to develop local characteristics and multi-culturalism in contemporary art exhibitions when the process of globalization continues to deepen and intensify? How to employ and renew “universal” models of art exhibitions according to local situations and needs? How to deal with the conflict between experimentation and public acceptance in art exhibitions? What are the major challenges that museum directors and curators face at this moment in history?

Where
Guangdong Museum of Art

38 Yanyu Road, Er-sha Island

Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510105, PRC

When
The First Guangzhou Triennial: Reinterpretation: A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art (1990-2000)

Opening Monday, November 18, 2002 through January 19, 2003

Preview: Monday, November 18, 2002

Grand opening: 6:00 pm Monday, November 18, 2002, at Guangzhou Museum of Art

Place and Model: A Symposium on Contemporary Art Exhibitions
organized in conjunction with the First Guangzhou Triennial

November 16 - 17, 2002 at the Hong Kong Art Museum

November 19 - 20, 2002 at the Guangdong Museum of Art

History
Sponsorship
Highlights
Catalogue
The First Guangzhou Triennial: Reinterpretation: A Decade of Experimental Chinese Art (1990-2000)

A bilingual Chinese and English catalogue, published by Sichuan Academy of Art Press, will be available at the opening. It will feature full-color reproductions of the works. It is a major scholarly undertaking, which documents the exhibition and provides a narrative and analysis of Chinese experimental art. The publication will include biographic and bibliographical material on each artist in the decade of the 1990s.

Group Tours
Groups attending the First Guangzhou Triennial can schedule tours of the exhibition.

Admission
Adults CNY 15, Senior Citizens , Children and students $4 and Members free

Hours
Tuesday through Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Closed on Mondays.

Chief Curator and the Team
Chief Curator: Prof. Wu Hung

Curatorial Committee: Wang Huangsheng, Wu Hung, Huang Zhuan, Feng Boyi

Chief curator, Wu Hung (University of Chicago; recent curatorial projects include “Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the 20th Century” [1999]; “Cancelled: Exhibiting Experimental Art in China” [2000]; and “New Chinese Photography” [on-going project].

Accepting his recommendation, the Museum has invited three other curators to serve on the curatorial committee. These include: Wang Huangsheng (Director of the Guangdong Museum of Art), Huang Zhuan (The Guangzhou Art Academy of Fine Arts; recent curatorial projects include a series of “International Sculpture Exhibitions” at the He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen, and several exhibitions of experimental art at the Upriver Art Gallery in Chengdu); Feng Boyi (The Chinese Artists’ Association; recent curatorial endeavors include “Trace of Existence” and the much debated exhibition “Fuck Off” in Shanghai).