Shanghai
5 Biennale
Techniques of the Visible
The Exhibition
Since its first edition in 1994, the Shanghai Biennale
has been China's first and foremost international
exhibition for contemporary art. Continuing this
commitment to contemporary artistic practice, the
theme of the 2004 Shanghai Biennale, Ying Xiang
Sheng Cun, "Techniques of the Visible",
will focus on the close relationship between art,
science, and technology, in particular how art has
revealed the interdependent social and political
forces that produce and subject technology and humanity.
By bringing together the work of more than 120 artists
from Asia, Africa, North America, Latin America
and Europe, the curators have worked towards a diversity
of approaches to technology, revealed both through
the number of artist projects exhibited and the
variety of sites in which these installations are
located.
The exhibition space of the Shanghai Art Museum
is divided into five areas, focusing on projects
dealing with spaces of visual production and consumption:
the film studio, the dark room, the theatre, the
painting studio and the cinema. In the Museum, the
contemporary practices range from traditional forms,
to photography and film. To emphasize the multiple
interrogations by artists towards technology by
bringing together practices from around the world,
the curators of the 2004 Biennale have expanded
beyond the main venue of the Shanghai Museum. The
dispersal of these projects in the public spaces
outside the Museum reveals an effort made by the
curators to highlight a multifaceted approach to
the theme of the Biennale.
In the People's Park, located beside the Museum,
more than ten installation spaces will be constructed
to act as Media Houses for projects that investigate
the relationship between technology and human action.
The works exhibited here will utilize every possible
new media method.
A more historical dimension of the theme of the
Biennale will be investigated in an exhibition geared
towards the establishment of a Museum of Chinese
Photography in Shanghai. The exhibition will look
at the development of photography in simultaneity
with the emergence of Modernism in China. Pictures
and captions representing historical documents of
Chinese photography will be displayed in a corridor
of more than 100 meters in length, set up in the
People's Park.
International
Film & Video
In addition to the exhibitions in the Museum and
People's Park, a program of International Film &
Video will also be shown at the Auditorium of Shanghai
Art Museum (4th Floor, 325 West Nanjing Road). Divided
into three sections: experimental short films by
contemporary artists (including a special screening
for Hong Kong Short Art Film); Chinese independent
films 2000-2004; and Chinese documentaries, the
Opening Screening of this program will be at 6:30
pm on Wednesday September 29th, featuring the films
of Yoko Ono. A timetable of screenings will be available
on the website www.shanghaibiennale.com.
International
Symposium
Along with the exhibitions, the Shanghai Art Museum
will host an International Symposium on September
29 and 30, bringing together distinguished scholars,
curators, critics and contemporary artists. This
two-day symposium will provide a space for the development
and concerns revealed by the main theme of the 2004
Biennale. Taken from Chinese terminology of ying
xiang and sheng chun, the concept emerges from an
interest in the technology-based visual products
that retain critical historical and emotive references.
Ying Xian Sheng Cun suggests that artistic practice
engaging with "technology" is inherently
placing itself within a historical continuum, where
cultural metaphor becomes critical to its understanding.
The Symposium will also take place in the Auditorium
of Shanghai Art Museum (4th Floor, 325 West Nanjing
Road).
Opening
Gala
An Opening Gala will be held on the 28th of September
in the People's Park adjacent to the Shanghai Art
Museum, to coincide with the famous Mid-Autumn Festival.
This night will include performances and multi-media
installations by twenty artists, as well as internationally
recognised D.Js and V.Js.
Public
Lectures
A Public Lectures program will also be announced,
scheduled to take place between September 28 and
November 27, where curators, scholars and participating
artists will be invited to discuss the exhibitions
and other key topics related to issues of technology
and art.
The Shanghai 5 Biennale will open its doors to the
public on September 29, 2004.
A catalogue with contribution of the curators and
the works in the exhibition will be available, together
with a Guide for the Public.
