sommerszene blog

Is it sheer coincidence that two towns in Austria mount concurrent
exhibitions of contemporary Chinese artists?

As the same time as China/India in Salzburg, Graz is showing „China
Welcomes You… Desires, Struggles, New Identities,“ an exhibition of
painting, photography, film, sculpture and installation. Housed in the
Kunsthaus Graz, the exhibit features several stunning works including
the 2007 „Old People’s Home“ by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu: Thirteen
realistic but decrepit world-leaders – the sculptures are so life-like
I did a double-take – sit in electronically motored wheelchairs like
an eerie gathering of powerful people who are now ineffective.

Curators of „China Welcomes You…“ asked each artist (there were 15)
who inspired or influenced their creations: „So as to gain a better
insight into the works, we asked the artists involved about the
influences that mattered to them. They named not only traditional and
current artists from East and West, but also philosophers and
filmmakers. These references are described alongside the works of art,
highlighting the global as well as local aspects of the works.“

Feng Mengbo, Ai Weiwei and Zhang Peili named Stanley Kubrick, Marcel
Duchamp and Ingmar Bergman respectively. Their own works — ranging
from video to sculpture — are one-of-a-kind: thought-provoking,
clever, beautiful, multi-layered.

Intersections of East and West cannot be denied. In „China: Friend or
Foe,“ Hugo de Burgh writes: „The suddenness of the changes that are
taking place in China astonishes. In the wealthy nations, there is
awe. Are we to be surpassed? Are we to see our economies undermined?
Do Chinese ambitions threaten us? It is understandable that these
questions are posed and that people imagine that a choice has to be
made – friend or foe – but this book is written to show ….. the real
questions are more likely to be these: can the government prevent
health and environmental catastrophes? Can it continue its dogged
transition to more accountable government without unleashing damaging
populism or military repression? Can the rest of the world manage the
changes that improvements in the material lives of so many other
people will force upon their countries without blaming China or
promoting conflict?“

It seems the world is poised at a precipice – and this dialectic
approach good/evil or friend/foe in politics is as unrealistic as it
is in art – narrative/abstract or traditional/innovative. The world is
more grey than black & white, and simplifications lead to more
misunderstanding and ossifying of ideas than accepting our
multiplicity and lack of „fixed identity.“