[curatorial.net] The Third Guangzhou Triennial

Thu Oct 25 11:12:58 BST 2007

Further to my previous email, please see the press release for the 2008
Guangzhou Triennial below, which has a theme of 'Farewell to
Post-Colonialism'. One of the Triennial curators, Sarat Maharaj, will be
speaking in the Far West seminar at Arnolfini tomorrow.

Best wishes,

Tom

-----------

The Third Guangzhou Triennial

Opening ceremony: September 10th, 2008

Exhibition Time: September 11th, 2008- December 10th, 2008

Organizer: Guangdong Museum of Art

Curatorial Committee: Gao Shiming, Sarat Maharaj and Johnson Tsong-zung
Chang 

For the curatorial discourse of this Triennial, we propose to say
"Farewell to Post-Colonialism". This represents the theoretical basis
from which we hope to explore our critical vision.

"Farewell to Post-colonialism" is not a denial of the importance and
rewards of this intellectual tradition; in the real world, the political
conditions criticised by post-colonialism have not receded, but in many
ways are even further entrenched under the machinery of globalisation.
However, as a leading discourse for art curatorial practice and
criticism, post-colonialism is showing its limitations in being
increasingly institutionalised as an ideological concept. Not only is it
losing its edge as a critical tool, it has generated its own
restrictions that hinder the emergence of artistic creativity and fresh
theoretical interface. 

To say "Farewell to Post-Colonialism" is not simply a departure, but a
re-visit and a re-start.

2008 will be exactly half a century since the heady days of 1968. In
fifty years, waves of new social movement and multi-cultural theories
have woven a tapestry of rich and clashing colours out of the world's
changing social realities. International contemporary art has also
benefited from the attention to socio-political issues surrounding
identity, race, gender and class. But in fifty years, revolutionary
concepts have also transformed into leading discourses safely guarded by
'political correctness'. Post-colonial discourse's analysis of the power
structure within cultural expressions has triggered a series of cultural
resistance, as well as the construction of the self as the Subject in
relation to the Other. However, this kind of analysis and construction
have also adversely developed an institutionalised pluralistic landscape
that has today turned into an ideology, a new form of stereotyping. 

In this Triennial we wish to draw attention to the 'political
correctness at large' that is the result of the power play of
multi-culturalism, identity politics and post-colonial discourse. Urgent
issues facing curatorial practice today are: How do we establish an
'ethics of difference' within the framework of difference in cultural
production? How do we prevent a 'tyranny of the Other' without
sacrificing the grounds already gained against the power status quo?

For some years major international contemporary exhibitions around the
world have worked towards building up 'discursive sites for a cacophony
of voices' and 'negotiated spaces of diverse values', emphasising
'correctness' in cultural politics; these have inadvertently succeeded
to the neglect of independent pursuit of artistic creativity and
alternative imaginative worlds. Concepts of identity, multiplicity and
difference are changed into ideological and institutional. On the
theoretical basis of post-colonialism, they are now slowly losing their
edge to develop a multi-cultural 'managerialism' that become a new
restriction for artistic creation.

In response to this, the curatorial team of the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial
wants to bring attention to the 'limits of multi-culturalism', and say
'Farewell to the Post-Colonial'.

By saying 'Farewell to the Post-Colonial' we call for the renovation of
the theoretical interface of contemporary art, to depart from its all
pervasive socio-political discourse, and work together with artists and
critics to discover new modes of thinking and develop new analytical
tools for dealing with today's world. 

Excises of the GZ Triennial: Negations and Questionnaire

The curators hope this Triennial will be a process of discovery for
ourselves; not just the fulfilling of preconceived ideas.
Instead of claiming what this Triennial 'is', we wish to find out what
it should not be.

This Triennial may be understood as a locus of questions for the
international art world, starting with an Exercise in Negation. We hope
artists and critics will works with us to discover what new modes and
imaginative worlds are possible for art beyond the boundaries of
socio-political discourses.

The Self Imagining of Guangzhou Triennial 2008: 
An Exercise in Negation ...
Neither Western nor non-western; neither global nor local; neither
international nor national; neither left nor right; neither the third
world not the third space; neither tourist spectacle nor ethno-scape.
Not cosmopolitanism; Not multi-culturalism, Not tribalism; Not
post-colonialism; Not identity politics; Not sociological report; Not
relational aesthetics; Not regime of the Other; Not alternative
modernity; Not hybridity; Not showcase of new stars; Not metropolis of
art; ...

In addition, the Triennial has prepared a platform for a Questionnaire
Exercise, through which artists can approach curators, critics and
fellow artists to discuss the predicament of contemporary artistic
production. It is hoped that through the concerted effort of the art
world we can clarify many false issues and presumptions embedded in art
practices, thereby permitting fresh questions to surface.

Through the Exercise in Negation and the Questionnaire, the Triennial
invites all colleagues in the art field to help imagine ways to realise
the 2008 Triennial. For the curators, the important thing is to liberate
discourse through discourse, and to liberate artistic production by
scrutinising our intellectual tools. It is our wish to bring curators
and artists together in order to think through the visual.

......

Questionnaire (a suggestion):
- Are you satisfied with the institution of biennials and triennials?
Can you suggest better alternatives?
- Do you consider cultural identity important to your creative work?
- Are discourses on 'global-local' useful for your work? If so, in what
ways?
- Are issues about pluralism such as sexual politics and race important
for you?
- Do you feel political correctness has turned into a form of
oppression?
- What does 'international' mean to you?
- Is a universal basis of knowledge and value critical for creativity?
- Under the aegis of diversity of multi-culturalism, how may artists
construct a common cultural ground of knowledge and sensibilities?
- How should we discuss creativity within the discourse of
multi-culturalism?
- Do you have any expectations or suggestions for The Third Guangzhou
Triennial in 2008?

......

Please make your own Questionnaire and send to Guangzhou Triennial 2008.

E-mail: gztriennial at gmail.com <mailto:gztriennial at gmail.com> 

Guangzhou Triennial 2008 will continue the initiative of D-Lab (Delta
Laboratory) started three years ago. The first D-Lab opens in November
2007, activities include:
A. International Symposium: "Limits of Multi-Culturalism", to discuss
the ideological tendencies and institutionalisation of multi-culturalism
and post-colonial discourse; and to investigate issues of 'plurality'
and 'difference' from the point of view of individual lived experience.
B. Round-table forum: "Re-starting from Asia: Fatigue of large
international exhibitions, and case study of Asia", to discuss
opportunities for large international exhibitions within the Asian
context under the general fatigue for such events today.

Introducing the Curators of the Guangzhou Triennial 2008

GAO Shiming, Deputy Director of the Visual Culture Research Center of
the China Art Academy, assistant professor. His subject is visual
culture research, contemporary art studies and curatorial practice. He
has participate in many large exhibitions of academic standing,
including the research project "The Migration of Asian Contemporary Art
and Geo-politics" 2002-2004, "Image Existence" the 5th Shanghai Biennial
2004, "In the Deep of Reality: Contemporary Chinese Art" and "Asian
Time: New Media Art" in 2005, "Micrology: Chinese Contemporary Art" and
"The Yellow Box: Contemporary Art and Architecture in a Chinese Space".
He has edited the publications "Visual Thinking", "Edges of the Earth:
Asian Contemporary Art and Geo-politics". Curatorial practice for Gao is
neither presentation nor re-presentation, but a creative process. He
firmly believes in the contemporary significance of bringing together
action and subjective knowledge. He also firmly believes in curatorial
work as a form of 'writing in practice' within the dark room of history.
Since 2002 his work has been guided by a special form of cultural
thinking, which is: how to start afresh from intellectual discourse,
depart from the habits of identity politics and contextual studies, and
seek inspiration from the depth of Chinese contemporary reality, in
order to stimulate creativity, and find a form of interventional
narrative for contemporary art and visual culture.

Sarat Maharaj was born in South Africa and educated in one of the
segregated universities during the Apartheid era. He is a research
professor at Goldsmiths' College in London and is currently professor of
Visual Art and Knowledge Systems in Lund, Sweden. He was the first
Rudolf Arnheim Professor at Humboldt University, Berlin, and Research
Fellow at Jan Van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht. His art historical work
centres on Richard Hamilton, Marcel Duchamp, and James Joyce. His
research covers cultural translation and difference, textiles, sonics,
and visual art as knowledge production. Since 1980s, Sarat Maharaj has
lectured and published throughout the world on cultural translation and
difference. He is a theoretical armoury of contemporary curatorial
practices. He was co-curator of Documenta 11, 2002. With Ecke Bonk and
Richard Hamilton, he curated retinal.optical.visual.conceptual... at the
Boijmanns, Rotterdam, 2002. He is curator of the Knowledge Lab (Haus der
Kulturen der Welt), 2005 and Berlin/Munich 2006, as well as
sound/image/movement experiments with Liu Sola (Beijing/NY) and Kofi
Koko (Benin/Paris). Maharaj's publications include Works in Progress:
Experiments in Think-speak-write Sequences 1 (INIVA) and A Strife of
Tongues: Richard Hamilton/Marcel Duchamp/James Joyce (Typosophic
Society). Maharaj's theoretical competence, combined with his
willingness to bring the concepts of cultural, diversity and difference
to a more public forum, makes him a key intellectual voice on the
Continent today.

Johnson CHANG Tsong-zung, curator, founder of the Asia Art Archive in
Hong Kong, founder of the Hong Kong chapter of AICA, guest professor of
China Art Academy. He has been active in curating Chinese exhibitions
since the 1980s; he pioneered participation of Chinese art in
international exhibitions, and was instrumental in establishing the
international image of Chinese contemporary art of the 1990s. As a
curator with strong attachments to the literati tradition, he firmly
believes that contemporary art should have unique responsibilities under
different contexts and take diverse paths. One of his main interests is
the type and manner of contribution Chinese art may open up to the
world. In recent years, his activities have centred around the theme:
"revival of Chinese visual and material culture" through the
intervention of curatorial practice. These projects involve artefacts,
space and ritual, forming a special and unique chapter in Chinese
contemporary art. His exhibitions include "China's New Art Post-1989" in
1993, Special Exhibitions at the Sao Paulo International Biennial in
1994 and 1996, Hong Kong participation at Sao Paulo Biennial 1996 and
Venice Biennial 2001, the "Power of the Word' series of exhibitions,
"Strange Heaven: Chinese Contemporary Photography", "Open Asia
International Sculpture Exhibition" in Venice 2005, "Yellow Box" series
of research projects about contemporary art practice and Chinese space.

Thank you very much! Do you have any criticisms or suggestions to make?
Or do you want to tell us something else? Please feel free to contact:
Guangzhou Triennial 2008
Guangdong Museum of Art
38 Yanyu Road, Er-Sha Island, Guangzhou, China 
E-mail: gztriennial at gmail.com <mailto:gztriennial at gmail.com> 
Tel:               86 20 87351261       
Fax: 86 20 87351326
Tel. ++86/20/87351261 

Tom Trevor
Director

Arnolfini
16 Narrow Quay
Bristol BS1 4QA
United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 (0)117 917 2300
Direct line: +44 (0)117 917 2309
Fax: +44 (0)117 917 2303
http://www.arnolfini.org.uk <http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/> 

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