Chinese art at the Guggenheim: a window on the country's modern history | The Economist
The Economist
2019-02-27
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Chinese contemporary art is being showcased at the Guggenheim museum in New York. Many of the artists have been banned from exhibiting in China, but their work gives a unique perspective on a country that censors cultural expression.
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A generation of Chinese artists are exhibiting their work at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The art installations cover a 20 year period, from the repression of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 to China's hosting of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, charting China's rise from international pariah to power-house.
After 1989 the Communist Party had to strike a balance between rapid economic growth and keeping control of society.
Alexandra Munroe is a curator of the exhibition which aims to bring Chinese contemporary art to a Western audience. if this exhibition had opened in China, it would have been closed down. The country's culture is heavily censored. The Chinese government controls what its citizens see as well as the imagery and information that leaves the country.
At the end of the 20th century, China embraced globalisation influencing many of the artists. As the country modernised, it shifted from two wheels to four.
Like many artists at the time, Xu Bing left China after the crushing of the Tiananmen Square protests. He moved to New York in search of the cultural freedom in the West. Xu Bing combines dust he collected from ground zero with an ancient Buddhist proverb to show how east meets west.
As China's economy boomed, it embarked on a period of rapid urbanisation, which transformed its cities. In the past 35 years, China's urban population has grown by half a billion. As China becomes richer its contemporary art scene is flourishing but the artists still face restrictions.
China's visual art is a picture book of contradictions. The country is taking its place on the global stage while repressing freedom of speech and cultural expression.
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A generation of Chinese artists are exhibiting their work at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The art installations cover a 20 year period, from the repression of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 to China's hosting of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, charting China's rise from international pariah to power-house.
After 1989 the Communist Party had to strike a balance between rapid economic growth and keeping control of society.
Alexandra Munroe is a curator of the exhibition which aims to bring Chinese contemporary art to a Western audience. if this exhibition had opened in China, it would have been closed down. The country's culture is heavily censored. The Chinese government controls what its citizens see as well as the imagery and information that leaves the country.
At the end of the 20th century, China embraced globalisation influencing many of the artists. As the country modernised, it shifted from two wheels to four.
Like many artists at the time, Xu Bing left China after the crushing of the Tiananmen Square protests. He moved to New York in search of the cultural freedom in the West. Xu Bing combines dust he collected from ground zero with an ancient Buddhist proverb to show how east meets west.
As China's economy boomed, it embarked on a period of rapid urbanisation, which transformed its cities. In the past 35 years, China's urban population has grown by half a billion. As China becomes richer its contemporary art scene is flourishing but the artists still face restrictions.
China's visual art is a picture book of contradictions. The country is taking its place on the global stage while repressing freedom of speech and cultural expression.
Daily Watch: mind-stretching short films throughout the working week.
For more from Economist Films visit: http://films.economist.com/
Check out The Economist’s full video catalogue: http://econ.st/20IehQk
Like The Economist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEconomist/
Follow The Economist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theeconomist
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theeconomist/
Follow us on LINE: http://econ.st/1WXkOo6
Follow us on Medium: https://medium.com/@the_economist
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