CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART PUBLICATION
Asia Art Archive (AAA) and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) celebrate the completion of two documentary projects that are essential to a deeper understanding of the history of contemporary Chinese art: AAA’s Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990 and MoMA’s publication of Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents. These milestone projects focus on the dramatic development and growth of Chinese contemporary art over the last three decades by documenting, collecting and translating critical discussions, primary materials and key texts.
Left: AAA's archiving project, 'Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990'. Right: MoMA's publication, 'Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents'. Image courtesy of AAA and MoMA.
From the press release:
Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990
The 1980s was a seminal period in China’s recent art history. During this time, many of China’s most celebrated artists attended art academies, held their first exhibitions, and developed the intellectual foundation for the art practices that have contributed to their present success. In order to foster research into this transformative moment in Chinese history, AAA has undertaken a four year focused archiving project; collecting, indexing and preserving rare documentary and primary source materials.
AAA’s largest and most systematically organised archive of documentary material on the period will be freely accessible and open to the public from AAA’s physical premises. It will also be available through a dedicated web portal www.china1980s.org starting this month.
Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents
Despite the liveliness and creativity of avant-garde Chinese art in the post-Mao era and its prominence in the world of international contemporary art, a systematic introduction to this important work in any Western language is still lacking… Arranged in chronological order, the texts guide readers through the development of avant-garde Chinese art from 1976 until 2006.
It is edited by Wu Hung, Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia and Consulting Curator at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. The book will be available at MoMA Stores and online at http://www.MoMAStore.org starting this month.
Public Programme
The co-launch will be accompanied by a series of discussion forums with artists, curators and scholars:
PAST Hong Kong, 7 September, 6.30 pm, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Speakers include: Chen Tong (Artist), Doryun Chong (Associate Curator of Painting & Sculpture at MoMA), Jane DeBevoise (Chair of Board of Directors of AAA), Wang Aihe (Associate Professor, School of Chinese, The University of Hong Kong), Wu Hung (Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia, and Consulting Curator at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago) and Xu Tan (Artist)
Beijing, 9 September, 6.30 pm, The Central Academy of Fine Arts
Speakers include: Doryun Chong, Jane DeBevoise, Song Dong (Artist), Huang Rui (Artist), Wu Hung and Xu Bing (Artist)
Shanghai, 11 September, 4 pm, MadeIn Company (formerly BizArt)
Speakers include: Doryun Chong, Jane DeBevoise, Wu Shanzhuan (Artist), Shi Yong (Artist), Wu Hung and Yu Youhan (Artist)
New York, 15 October, 6:30 pm, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
This program presents Jane DeBevoise, Sarah Suzuki (Assistant Curator of Prints & Illustrated Books at MoMA) and Wu Hung in conversation with leading artists and critics. The event will be followed by a reception, where the book will be available for purchase.
Organisers of co-launch: ArtHub Asia (Shanghai), Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong), The Central Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing), and The Museum of Modern Art (New York)
SXB/KN
Related Topics: books, events, resources
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