China Contemporary , Architecture, Art and Visual Culture

A joint initiative of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Nederlands fotomuseum in Rotterdam. This first interdisciplinary overview of China’s contemporary art, architecture and visual culture including television, photography, newspapers, magazines and blogs also provides a platform for a new critical voice from the People’s Republic.

The People’s Republic of China is undergoing a phenomenal transformation. In just a few years, the country has developed into the mecca of the market economy, a place where existing and new cities are mushrooming into modern metropolises at breakneck speed. But is this all just a glossy image? Three Rotterdam arts institutions have teamed up to show the work of contemporary artists, photographers, architects and designers from China from 10 June 2006 onward to have them answer this question with provocative, critical, ironic and beautiful work.

China Contemporary is a joint initiative of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Nederlands fotomuseum in Rotterdam. This first interdisciplinary overview of China’s contemporary art, architecture and visual culture including television, photography, newspapers, magazines and blogs also provides a platform for a new critical voice from the Peoples Republic.

The exhibition presents in five different themes (Chineseness, Critical Urban Renewal, Urbanscape, Public Domain en Informal China) more than forty remarkable projects by eighteen talented young Chinese architects. They cherish the cultural tradition and attempt to improve the changeable urban landscape by using new concepts. The installations, models, computers animations, documentaries, photographs and films that are being exhibited here for the first time offer the public a penetrating insight.

In two presentations – the New Urban Realities group exhibition and the Xu Zhen solo exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen – shows how the latest generation of Chinese artists is reacting to these spectacular changes.

Xu Zhen (b. Shanghai, 1977) is one of the most controversial artists of his generation. He was instrumental in establishing the independent art centre Bizart in Shanghai and was an inspiring force for many young artists.

The exhibition shows the room-filling installation, 8848 – 1.86 which documents the artist’s brave venture to literally saw off the top of Mount Everest.