Utopia/Heterotopia: Wuzhen International Contemporary Art Exhibition
Edited by Nancy Gong
Standards, installation, Liu Jianhua (China), 2015-2016
When it opened on March 27, 2016, Utopia/Heterotopia: Wuzhen International Contemporary Art Exhibition unveiled a total of 130 works across 55 series by 40 outstanding artists from countries around the world, in a wide range of media such as installation, performance, sculpture, sound, video, and animation in the West Scenic District and the North Silk Factory.
The North Silk Factory, the major exhibition area, is a refurbished workshop of an abandoned silk factory in Wuzhen, testifying to the dramatic changes in Chinese water towns during the last half of the 20th Century. The factory location features works by 34 artists.
The West Scenic District is iconic of ancient water regions in southern China. It presents public art by seven artists, characterized by immense size and visual tension.
Of the 40 participating artists, 13 submitted completely new proposals specifically for the exhibition, of whom eight hailing from foreign countries commissioned local workers to assemble site-specific works, bridging international art and the ancient water town of Wuzhen.
“Everyone has a utopian dream, which became our driving force to make a difference,” illustrates Feng Boyi, chief curator of the exhibition. “We never get bored with this theme despite the fact that you will see heterotopian changes to the utopian approach. This exhibition is about our utopian visions as well as our heterotopian realization.”
I Remember II, sculpture, Richard Deacon (Britain), 2012
The Inverted Panorama House by Olafur Eliasson (Germany), installation, Olafur Eliasson, 2016
Fountain of Historical Materialism by Li Songsong (China), oil painting, 2016
Law of Peripheral Units by Kishio Suga (South Korea), installation, 1997-2014
Introspective Cavity by Yin Xiuzhen (China), installation, 2008
Bleaching by Jaffa Lam (China), installation, 2016
Entanglement by Sui Jianguo (China), sculpture, 2016
Again, Still, Yet by Ann Hamilton (USA), installation, 2016
Custos Cavum by Choe U-Ram (South Korea), machine installation, 2011
Introspective Cavity by Yin Xiuzhen (China), 2016
The Floating Fish by Florentijn Hofman (Holland), installation, 2016
Wuzhen’s history can be traced back at least 1,300 years. Over the last few decades, however, it has transformed into a multi-faceted modern township while protecting its historical and cultural legacies. Since 2013 when its first international theater festival was launched, Wuzhen has broadened its international horizon with large-scale international cultural exchange activities. In 2014, Wuzhen successfully hosted the first World Internet Conference, and has since been named the permanent venue for the event, solidifying its reputation as an internationally advanced, modernized town over the past 10-plus years.
Today, Wuzhen has emerged as an economic, political, social, and cultural hub, especially as a unique space and environment affording communication between modern artists from around the planet.
The exhibition runs until June 26, 2016. For its duration, Wuzhen will provide various free public education campaigns as well as regular professional tour guide services.