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With little balancing counterpoint or alternative spaces, contemporary art in this context is bereft
of its critical capacity and left to be treated merely as a form of entertainment, a photo backdrop, or
a money-making scheme for investors and status-seeking officials and socialites.
Contemporary art in China today suffers from a common predicament – it is cut off from traditions
of the past on the one hand and from the life of the present on the other. This twice removed
status has resulted in a scenario whereby contemporary art forms remain mostly unrecognized by
mainstreamculture, are only haltingly accepted into government-run institutions, are largely absent
from average university art departments and go virtually unknown by the average citizen. That
said, efforts to delink contemporary art from its enclave status have already begun. An exhibition
like
Light from Light
, staged in a government-run space and featuring specially commissioned
interactive works utilizing new technologies and materials, is but one example of how new models
for making and displaying art in China can be realized. That such an event could reach approval at
the highest levels offers an encouraging perspective on how art can exert its own energy upon a
given environment or social context rather than simply becoming a byproduct of it.
If the recent explosion of economic prosperity in China has resulted in an unfettered growth of the
art market and by result, the institutions of art, then the underlying question remains focused on
how these institutions – especially those operating without direct State oversight – can steer art and
artists towards a space of production and reception unencumbered by excessive external forces.
As commercial interests increasingly over lap with artistic production, the factors threatening
art are increasingly more economical than strictly political. The days of ‘outsider’ artists taking
an organized stand against the establishment may become part of a distant past, but the form of
the exhibition – once recognized as a valuable platform for redefining how art is understood and
encountered by audiences or for forging new relationships between artists and institutions, has
transitioned increasingly into a static showcase for commercial objects. In this light, the value of
active art collectives, alternative art spaces and deterritorialized social and relational practices
is not to be underestimated. Such practices can go a long way in restoring art’s capacity for
unexpected, unplanned encounters that transcend passive viewer reception as well as carve out
space for independently minded artistic production that can meaningfully reflect and participate
in contemporary life. Without such emancipatory gestures, the generative qualities immanent to
art cease to exist.
Pauline J. Yao is Curator at M+, Museum of Visual Culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong. She is a
co-founder of Arrow Factory, Beijing and the author of
In Production Mode
(2008).
1 The first exhibition organized by the Stars in Beihai Park was shut down prematurely due to complications with the local
district police (they lacked the proper permit to use public space) and not with arts or culture-related bureaus. Subsequent
vocalizations of dismay registered in open postings on the Democracy Wall and through organized street protests brought
further attention to the Stars Group and helped to brand their image as outcast rebels.
2 The Beijing Artists’ Association is a branch of the larger Chinese Artists’ Association which is an official organization
backed by the State.
3 See John Clark,
Modern Asian Art
, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1988, pp.185-186.
4 The years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) should be viewed as an exception. During this time, not only was art was
subsumed entirely by politics but schools were suspended and normal patterns of institutions and everyday life were
disrupted.
5 The Huangshan conference, seen as a continuation Zhuhai Conference of 1986, was a pivotal event in the history of the
Chinese avant-garde movement. Although designated as a conference, the event functioned more like a collective gathering
attended by artists, curators and intellectuals active in the avant-garde scene. Artists were invited to contribute artworks,
made speeches and formulated positions on future directions of art. The event in 1988 centered upon the planning of the
Avant-Garde Modern Art Exhibition in 1989 which opened at the National Art Gallery (now NAMOC) on February 5, 1989. It
remains one of the most important exhibitions of modern art in China.
