THEME

 Any tradition of art that has established an independent system of aesthetic criteria must also have to create by necessity its own particular form of connoisseurship. However, since the 19th century, the European tradition of art has found a “standard” system of exhibition and art appreciation based upon the modern art museum – a system which has now become seemingly universal. The modern art museum is a “neutral” exhibition space, pure and evenly lit, earning the moniker, the “white cube”. The “white cube” is an architectural space that echoes the Christian religious space; it resonates with spiritual references – there, a wide range of art works may be canonised as “works of fine art”.  In it, art works are turned into objects worthy of adulation and focused gazing. On the other hand, the “white cube” is also a system of partitioning from nature, separating art works from the living world out of which it arises, while keeping apart the creative situation from the conditions of connoisseurship, and separating the space of art appreciation from that of daily experience. As a result of this divide, it has caused a particular kind of focused gaze that created a space of meditation.

“Yellow Box” is a project initiated by the Visual Culture Research Centre of China Academy of Art. Its purpose is to investigate issues about contemporary art, creativity and culture of connoisseurship in response to the modern “white cube”. This project intends to investigate issues of connoisseurship and display that are embedded in Chinese traditional spaces; meanwhile it also intends to reinterpret traditional literati spirit in light of contemporary art. In 2005, the first exhibition of “Yellow Box” subtitled “Contemporary Calligraphy and Painting in Taiwan” was held at the Taipei Fine Art Museum. That exhibition experimented with solutions for displaying the subtlety of literati art within the sterile “white cube” by either building mediating structures or setting up viewing procedures. Based on that exhibition’s experiment, the present “Yellow Box” project continues the research in exhibition practice by studying contemporary art and architecture.

Xiao Ximen (Minor West Gate) is a project of a newly constructed traditional vernacular architecture built under the auspices of the Qingpu District Government. It is a remarkable example of efforts to revive traditional/vernacular culture and the creative industry. The project was spearheaded by the local government, and is the result of 3 years’ intensive creative labour.  In celebration of the realisation of this architectural dream, the China Academy of Art, in cooperation with the Time+Architecture Magazine, will present this exhibition and forum with support of the Qingpu District Government. Over 40 artists and architects have been invited to create and display works of different media including architectural models, paintings, photography, video, installation and experimental mix media productions. The artists have been invited to interpret and respond to this quarter of wood-frame vernacular space that is laden with cultural definitions.

At present there is a rage of building art galleries and art museums throughout China. It is therefore important to ask questions such as: Does the space of museums have to follow the canonical spectator regime? Will the traditional culture of intimate appreciation still retain its charm in the museum system? What is the significance of the classical experience in art appreciation to the configuration of space in contemporary architecture? These are the kind of questions that the “Yellow Box” hopes to illuminate. Xiao Ximen (Minor West Gate) is not a venue designed especially for art display. It is the architecture of daily life. Nowadays, as people change their life style, this type of architecture has become a symbol of home that we can only experience from exile. In China, places like Xiao Ximen have either vanished or turned into tourist attractions. In this situation, the question is: how do we retain traditional visual memories, and at the same time endow them with fresh significance and activity.

CURATORS

Gao Shiming (Director of Visual Culture Research Centre, China Academy of Art)
Chang Tsong-zung (Curator and Critic, Guest Professor of China Academy of Art)
Hu Xiangcheng (Artist and architect of Xiao Ximen)

ORGANISATION

Presented by: China Academy of Art
In Association with: A+U, Time+Architecture Magazine
Supported by: Shanghai Qingpu Newcity Construction Development (Group) CO., LTD
Documentation by: Asia Art Archive

ACADEMIC FORUM

Date: 13:30—16:30, 6th September 2006
Venue: Xiao Ximen (Minor West Gate), Qingpu Town

The Academic Forum will engage with the issues of “Exhibition Practice and Mechanics of Significance”, “China’s Traditional Culture of Connoisseurship and Contemporary Art”, “Chinese Approaches to Contemporary Art”, “Architectural Practice and Visual Production in Contemporary China”.

• What is the relationship between contemporary exhibition practice and the mechanics of significance?
• What are the supports and limitations museum spaces bring to art practice?
• What is the relationship between Chinese traditional culture of appreciation and museum-based connoisseurship?
• Is there an ideal museum?
• Is there “a Chinese space”? Does it exist?
• Is it possible to build a contemporary art practice in Chinese daily space?
• What are architectural practices in Chinese traditional space and how is it visually experienced?
• What is the “legitimacy” of culture heritage? How can cultural tradition avoid the label of “intangible heritage”?  How do we define tradition while keeping it distinct from the objects of museology or tourist attractions?
• What do we lose in the spectacle of development? What do we lose in the process of culture heritage protection?
• How should we respond to the museumisation of social life and the damage to historical tradition?
• What do history and tradition mean to us in an age of virtual reality?
• How do we address the history that we have lost? Is there a history of the future?
• Is culture identity a reality or just an imagination? From the architect’s viewpoint, how should he address the anxiety of “generic cities” and the desire for local identification?
• What is the implication of non-architectural buildings and architecture beyond the history of architecture?  
• What do you think about the architectural practice in Qingpu and its visual production?

 

ARTISTS

Alan Xie(USA), Gao Shiqiang(China), Intravision Group ( Norway), Leung Chi Wo (China, Hongkong), Liao Wenfeng(China), Liu Dahong(China), Liu Wei (China), Lou Shenghua(China), Ni Keyun(China), Pak Sheung Chuen (China, Hongkong), Qiu Anxiong(China), Qiu Zhijie (China), Ye Fang (China), Sun Xun (China), Total Art Group (China), Wang Dongling (China), Wu Junyong (China), Wu Shanzhuan (China), Xue Jun (China), Yondonjunain Dalkh-Ochir(Mongolia), Yu Peng(Taiwan,China), Zhanghui (China), Zheng Duanxiang (China), Jian Group, Zheng Wenxin(China), Zheng Zaidong (Taiwan,China), Zhu Xi (China)etc.

ARCHITECTS

Arata Isozaki(Japan), Atelier Deshaus (China), Benjamin Wood(USA), CA-Group(China), David Chipperfield(UK), Kensyo, J.C(Japan), Li Kaisheng(China), Liu Jiakun (China), Ma Qingyun (China), Rem Koolhaas(Dutch), Sancho Madridejos(Spain), Tong Ming(China), Wang Jiahao (China), Zhang Bin (China), Zhang Lei (China), Zhang Yonghe (China), Zheng Xiangzhu(China), Zhu Xiaofeng(China), and a Chinese folk Architect etc.

CONTACT

Ms. He Haiyan
Fax：021-69730977
E-mail: qpxcjs@shqp.gov.cn