Chinese Contemporary Art on Show (UK): March 2016

Another list of Chinese Contemporary Art on Show…actually more of an events listing, a what’s on of talks, films and happenings. As ever, if I have missed anything that should be on the list let me know.

1. ‘The Imitation Game’ – Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
   13 February – 5 June 2016
   Including artist Yu-Chen Wang. An exhibition by eight international contemporary artists who explore the theme of machines and the imitation of life. The exhibition will include work by artists Ed Atkins, James Capper, Paul Granjon, Tove Kjellmark, Lynn Hershman Leeson, David Link, Mari Velonaki and Yu-Chen Wang. With a title inspired by Alan Turing’s Turing Test, devised to test a computer’s ability to imitate human thought, introduced in an article while he was working at The University of Manchester, The Imitation Game includes three new commissions and works never before seen in the UK.

   

2. ‘The Makers are Coming! China’ Long Tail Revolution’ by Jing Wang – University of Manchester, UK
   19 April, 5-7pm, Samuel Alexander Building, A115
   This talk situates the outbreak of the Maker Movement in contemporary China in the context of national innovation policy, the changing ethos of Chinese educators, and the revisionist take on copy culture (shanzhai). The author explores ‘change-maker’ as an alternative proposal to the ruling paradigm of ‘maker as entrepreneur’ and investigates several maker projects that have emerged from below as well as the implications of the spread of makerspaces to the national pursuit of creative China.

   

3. ‘SACU ChinaCafe’ Networking Events – London, UK
   Sex and Youth in Modern China – author Jemimah Steinfield (13 March)
   Cultural and Political Barriers – Dr Richard Boyd (3 April)
   The Cultural Revolution  – Dr. Frances Wood (8 May)
   The Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU) was founded 50 years ago to promote friendship and understanding between the peoples of Britain and China. It is a registered UK charity and is the only friendship society of its kind in the country.

   

4. ‘A Beautiful Disorder’ – Cass Sculpture Foundation, UK
   Opening May – November 2016
   The first major exhibition of newly commissioned outdoor sculpture by contemporary Chinese artists to be shown in the UK. From May 2016, sixteen monumental outdoor sculptures will be on display throughout the grounds of CASS. These artists employ a variety of ambitious sculptural techniques across a range of materials including bronze, stone, steel and wood. I cannot wait for this show! Read the A Beautiful Disorder Press Release here. Another show I’ll be reviewing…so watch my social media feed!

   

5. 30 Years of CFCCA – A window on… – CFCCA, Manchester, UK
   Final Wednesday of each month, February – June 2016
   A Window On… contemporary art in Mainland China by Katie Hill
   Wednesday 30 March, 6-8pm – click here to book
   CFCCA presents A Window On… a series of talks that will provide an insight into contemporary Chinese culture and visual art followed by Chinese tea tastings provided by our partners, Proper Tea. Informative and accessible, these talks are tailored to give newcomers to Chinese contemporary art a valuable insight into the historical and contemporary significance of Chinese artists and their work.

   

6. Far & Few [Between] – No Format Gallery, London, UK
   3-13 March 2016
   Artists: Le Guo, Haili Sun, Lisa Chang Lee, Mu Tian, Yiman Lin, Jeremy Lee, Yingsheng Yang, by artist-curator Lisa Chang Lee
   Explores identity from the perspective of Chinese expats now living in the UK. Considering geographical, cultural and political boundaries, the concept also implies a circular act of gaze occurring between artists, artworks and their audiences, where visualisation, interpretation, and ambiguities are nourished. Read more here: Far & Few [Between].

   

7. ‘Punch’ by LIU Jincheng – Bloomsbury Gallery, London, UK
   Opening 16 March 2016, 6.30-8.30pm
   17 March – 3 April 2016
   ART.ZIP presents LIU Jincheng’s solo exhibition ‘Punch’ at Bloomsbury Gallery in London. This exhibition shows his painting works representative of his time between China and the UK.

   

8. ‘Datong: The Great Society’ (film) + Q&A – mac, Birmingham, UK
   Thursday 17 March, 8pm
   Hailed as a masterpiece, Datong: The Great Society focuses on modern China’s first major utopian philosopher and earliest constitutional reformer, Kang Youwei (Liu Kai-chi) and his pioneering feminist daughter Kang Tongbi (Lindzay Chan). Kang and his daughter fled into exile for 16 years following the Qing government’s bloody crackdown on the political reform he initiated in 1898. Framed around their Swedish soujourn (1904 – 1908), Evans Chan’s docu-drama recounts Kang’s epic struggle to modernise China and his dream of Datong – the Chinese utopia. Evans Chan will introduce the film and Dr Shirley Ye of the Department of History at University of Birmingham will host a post-screening discussion.