whiskers cast, main entrance, guanshanyue museum of art

the guanshanyue museum of art was built ten years ago. at the time, it manifest shenzhen leaders’ understanding of state of the art, so to speak. it also incorporated the practical details of the state of construction. pink tiles, green glass, and limitted use of elevators define the space. this year, the museum is celebrating its anniversary with a series of exhibitions and events. draw whiskers, add dragon was commissioned as part of the celebration.

yesterday was the opening ceremony of the open ink painting invitational exhibition at the guanshanyue museum of art. in addition to organizing the regular media to come to the opening, exhibition organizers also invited art bloggers, who have uploaded introductions to and interviews with key participants, here and here. indeed, there’s more online about the exhibition than in the regular newspapers.

as with many shenzhen art events, there was a predictable tension between the cost of the show (an index of the importance that the municipal government now places on “art”) and attendence (an index of the importance that museum visitors place on “art”). this crude opposition highlights the urgency that organizers and participants expressed feeling about making ink painting relavent to contemporary audiences. contemporary audiences included:

westerners who take ink painting to be a sign of “chinese identity”;

chinese artists who believe that ink painting is a sign of “chinese identity”, but a sign which has been corrupted/transformed by the internalization of the western gaze. importantly, speakers included the organization of art exhibitions in their understanding of “western gaze” and stated that the guanshanyue exhibit was an important attempt for chinese artists to take the lead in defining the social and aesthetic meaning of contemporary ink painting;

young chinese who don’t know or care about ink painting. for these youths, participants seemed eager to strategize forms of aesthetic outreach. however, it’s worth noting that participants themselves (except for one artist, the dancers and actors) were all born in the late 40s, 50s and early 60s.

all of the participants agreed that it was necessary to investigate and explore and transform chinese tradition to make it relavent to contemporary audiences. during the opening discussion, much of the conversation circled around the themes of “ink painting spirit (水墨精神)” indeed, this is why organizer sun zhenhua (孙振华) invited shenzhen composer wen li (文莉) and fat bird to perform ink painting inspired dance and play, respectively.

the differences between wen li’s piece “江峡行　（river canyon walk)” and fat bird’s “draw whiskers, add dragon” suggest the possibilities and constraints on transforming ink painting spirit. wen li uses tradition as an asesthitic; she creates beautiful forms and sounds that suggest a refined sensibility and moments of private contemplation. fat bird described a world where the only way in which chinese tradition could survive was through advertising and tourism.

during the three-hour discussion, one of the fat bird actresses had sat quietly, playing a game on her cell phone. when i leaned over and asked if the disappearence of ink painting would make her feel less chinese, she laughed, said, “no,” and then went back to her game. the participants kept talking. images of the show, museum, and organizers.