Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry PRESENTS AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY A FILM BY ALISON KLAYMAN FESTIVALS: 2012 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2012 MIAMI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2012 INTERNATIONALE FILMFESTPIELE BERLIN 2012 TRUE/FALSE FILM FESTIVAL 2012 FULL FRAME DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2012 HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2012 SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2012 HOT DOCS FILM FESTIVAL 2012 INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2012 DOXA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL USA / 2012 / 91 MIN. / COLOR DISTRIBUTION CONTACT: NY PRESS CONTACT: LA PRESS CONTACT: LAUREN SCHWARTZ/KIM BARRETT SUSAN NORGET/CHARLIE OLSKY FREDELL POGODIN/JONATHAN SMITH SUNDANCE SELECTS SUSAN NORGET FILM PROMOTION FREDELL POGODIN & ASSOCIATES PUBLICITY/MARKETING 198 Sixth Ave. #1 7223 Beverly Boulevard #202 11 Penn Plaza, 18th Floor New York, NY 10013 Los Angeles, CA 90036 New York, NY 10001 T: 212.431.0090 (323) 931-7300 T: 646.273.7214 [email protected] [email protected] F: 646.273.7250 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.ifcfilms.com For images please visit our extranet: www.ifcfilmsextranet.com (login: ifcguest01, password: kubrick; select “AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY” from the drop-down bar) SYNOPSIS Named by ArtReview as the most powerful artist in the world, Ai Weiwei is China's most celebrated contemporary artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. In April 2011, when Ai disappeared into police custody for three months he quickly became China’s most famous missing person, having first risen to international prominence in 2008 after helping design Beijing’s iconic Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium-and then publicly denouncing the Games as party propaganda. Since then, Ai Weiwei’s critiques of China’s repressive regime have ranged from playful photographs of his raised middle finger in front of Tiananmen Square to searing memorials to the more than 5,000 schoolchildren who died in shoddy government construction in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Against a backdrop of strict censorship, Ai has become a kind of Internet champion, using his blog and constant -and frequently witty-use of Twitter to organize, inform and inspire his followers, becoming an underground hero to millions of Chinese citizens. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to the charismatic artist, as well as his family and others close to him, while working as a journalist in Beijing. In the years she filmed, government authorities shut down Ai’s blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention-while Time magazine named him a runner-up for 2011’s Person of the Year. Her compelling documentary portrait is the inside story of a passionate dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT BY ALISON KLAYMAN The reason I wanted to make a film about Ai Weiwei was because I wanted to make a movie about a creative and principled artist, willing to make calculated risks to push society to grapple with its own shortcomings. He is a charismatic figure who in his personal dynamism embodies the multitude of experiences and realities in China, a sign of how China has changed and how there is more change to come. Which is why a lot went through my mind last April when, after over two years of filming and several months into the edit, Weiwei disappeared into police custody without any formal charges or indication when he would be released. For weeks I stayed up late into the night in New York, so that I could be awake as morning came to Beijing. Media requests were constant. I monitored every development, keeping Skype signed on near my bed when I slept, and was rarely far from a Twitter feed. Ai’s 81-day detention amplified his story symbolically and in the press. His release made news around the world, and people who may never have consciously heard his name suddenly became familiar with his face and his cause. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry brings the man and his history into the focus. I started filming Weiwei in 2008, just after his work on the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium and his subsequent denunciation of the Games as Party propaganda made him an international figure for the first time. The years since have been even more transformational. Having never used a computer before 2005, Weiwei began a blog remarkable for its frank and politically incendiary opinions. The government shut his blog down in 2009, but by then, he had already established himself as an online icon—a role he continues to play through Twitter. That same year, Weiwei opened his largest solo museum exhibition in Munich, and, after a lifetime of vowing he didn’t want children, he also became a father. Of course, there was his arrest in 2011 to cap everything off. These years are a pinnacle for a man who already experienced several significant epochs in his life. I want to give people a chance to spend time with Weiwei, listen to his voice and his opinions, see his flaws, and experience the conditions of his life. The idea is to allow audiences to evaluate Weiwei’s choices and, I hope, to be inspired by his courage and humanity. But Never Sorry is not just about Weiwei, or China. I hope the film will move audiences to interrogate themselves. What is my vision for a better future? What would I risk to express myself? The most powerful impact this film can have is inspiring a new crop of outspoken artists, activists and citizens, with a strong vision for improving the future in their respective societies. INTERVIEW WITH AI WEIWEI January 7, 2012 Q: What would you like people to do after seeing the film? Ai Weiwei: I think (by seeing the film) the audience will first have some knowledge about who I am and what kind of issues I am always concerned about as an artist. I think they should really think that freedom of expression is very valuable, and they should treasure this right. In many areas and locations around the world, you can completely lose your freedom simply because you are asking for freedom. You even never have a chance to speak out. In many developed societies people take freedom of expression for granted, but at the same time it would be a crime to be ignorant of the efforts that other people make for this right. Humans share all values as a common property. You cannot pretend you don’t know it, and you can’t say it has nothing to do with me. That would only make you as a very selfish person and very shortsighted. What made me a recognizable figure is only because I do have an issue, and also because I successfully use the Internet, to a degree. I can communicate more freely through the Internet and media to carry out the message, so this is very important- you have the message and you have a way to carry it out. I hope people watching this they also can realize that, I think today we are living in a very different world and today we do have new possibilities, and we can make the world into a better place for everybody. Q: How does the documentary make China look? Ai Weiwei: The documentary is about reality, it’s about the reality that has been existing in this piece of land for decades. China is developing itself, but in certain cases such as the judicial system and freedom of speech, it has hardly developed. It’s still under very strong control. But I think China cannot afford not to change. It takes time, but only when there’s pressure, when there’s a demand for it. We all know humans are not going to change by themselves if there’s no pressure there. Q: What would Chinese audiences think of the film? Ai Weiwei: I don’t think it will ever be seen by the public in mainland China, only a small public will ever see it in China. Only on YouTube or online, which is just a few people, less than 0.1 percent who technically can jump over the Great Firewall and watch it. But still that’s very important, the effort is important only because it’s so difficult. I think it’s good for anybody to see it, the government and officials and police should see it. They should understand…they should face the reality, and to understand what is in the struggle. Otherwise they have no way to evaluate themselves. Because they think all Western people hate China or are trying to overthrow the government, but they don’t really look at each individual case to see what is the intention and how to make it better. I think this film will help make it better. I think this is very important to let people understand the situation. AI WEIWEI: TIMELINE 1957: Born in Beijing to poet Ai Qing and his wife Gao Ying. Ai Qing studied painting in Paris in the 1930s, was a fervent supporter of the nascent Communist movement, and his modernist poetry defined a generation. 1958: Ai Qing falls out of favor with Communist Party and is branded a “Rightest.” Sent into exile, first to Beidahuang, then to far-western Xinjiang Province. 1962: Younger brother Ai Dan is born in Xinjiang. 1966-76: Cultural Revolution. Ai Weiwei and his family suffer as “class enemies” and he is forced to do hard labor alongside his father. Ai Qing worked as a public toilet cleaner, among other jobs. 1976: Ai Qing’s name is restored after Mao’s death, and the family returns to Beijing.
Recommended publications
  • 250.Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds) Ai Weiwei. 2010
    250.Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds) Ai Weiwei. 2010 – 2011 C.E. Sculpted and painted porcelain Article at Khan Academy often uses his art to critique political and economic injustice Content: more than 100 million tiny, handmade porcelain sunflower seeds, originally weighing in at 150 tons o They filled the enormous Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, an industrial building-turned-contemporary art space o Context: while he was growing up, even the poorest in China would share sunflower seeds as a treat among friends o The individual seed is lost among the millions, a critique of the conformity and censorship inherent in modern China designed to subvert popular imagery rooted in the artist’s childhood. Communist propaganda optimistically depicted leader Mao Zedong as the sun and the citizens of the People’s Republic of China as sunflowers, turning toward their chairman More than 1,600 artisans worked to make the individual porcelain seeds by hand Porcelain— a symbol of imperial culture in China—was also made for export via the Silk Road and became important to the creation of the idea of China in the West Mr. Ai’s use of porcelain comments on the long history of this prized material while also rejecting the common negative connotations of the modern term “Made in China.” Utilizing skilled artisans known for their exquisite craftsmanship to make objects that can only be differentiated one from another upon close inspection, alludes to the important porcelain tradition in Jingdzhen (2000 years), as well as to the uniformity and diffusion of modern (cheap and fast) labor that is responsible for China’s hard-won place in the world economy.
    [Show full text]
  • Truth to Power Ai Weiwei’S Public Discontent Is an Anomaly in the No-Politics World of Chinese Contemporary Art
    sunday features SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2009 Truth to power Ai Weiwei’s public discontent is an anomaly in the no-politics world of Chinese contemporary art BY DAVID FRAZIER CONTRIBUTING REPORTER arlier this week, around 30 police officers concerns to relate to the human struggle in China.” seems to draw on the aesthetics of minimalism a lineage that ran from Dada to Pop Art and “A state wants to be a world-class power, at top burst into the Sichuan hotel room of one of “Why are you so concerned about society? and process art. But from a bird’s-eye view Conceptual Art. His personal ideas of bringing economic performance, but at the same time E China’s foremost contemporary artists, Ai That is always the question,” he asked rhetorically, — the sculpture is about 3m tall and 10m across together found objects, or readymades, and wants to maintain a non-democratic society and Weiwei (艾未未). They detained him there for about speaking as part of an eight-hour interview — one sees China’s outline. The work is at once Chinese antiques, however, had not yet come in every field it’s very corrupt.” half a day to prevent him from testifying in the trial marathon at the Tokyo opening of Ai Weiwei: an elemental testimony to the Chinese character, into its own. When his father took ill in 1993, he But he has also picked his battles wisely, of activist Tan Zuoren (譚作人), who was charged According to What. “And my answer is simple: a statement against the destruction of its cultural decided to return to China.
    [Show full text]
  • Joan Lebold Cohen Interview Transcript
    www.china1980s.org INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT JOAN LEBOLD COHEN Interviewer: Jane DeBevoise Date:31 Oct 2009 Duration: about 2 hours Location: New York Jane DeBevoise (JD): It would be great if you could speak a little bit about how you got to China, when you got to China – with dates specific to the ‘80s, and how you saw the 80’s develop. From your perspective what were some of the key moments in terms of the arts? Joan Lebold Cohen (JC): First of all, I should say that I had been to China three times before the 1980s. I went twice in 1972, once on a delegation in May for over three weeks, which took us to Beijing, Luoyang, Xi’an, and Shanghai and we flew into Nanchang too because there were clouds over Guangzhou and the planes couldn’t fly in. This was a period when, if you wanted to have a meal and you were flying, the airplane would land so that you could go to a restaurant (Laughter). They were old, Russian airplanes, and you sat in folding chairs. The conditions were rather…primitive. But I remember going down to the Shanghai airport and having the most delicious ‘8-precious’ pudding and sweet buns – they were fantastic. I also went to China in 1978. For each trip, I had requested to meet artists and to go to exhibitions, but was denied the privilege. However, there was one time, when I went to an exhibition in May of 1972 and it was one of the only exhibitions that exhibited Cultural Revolution model paintings; it was very amusing.
    [Show full text]
  • The Discovery of Chinese Logic Modern Chinese Philosophy
    The Discovery of Chinese Logic Modern Chinese Philosophy Edited by John Makeham, Australian National University VOLUME 1 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/mcp. The Discovery of Chinese Logic By Joachim Kurtz LEIDEN • BOSTON 2011 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kurtz, Joachim. The discovery of Chinese logic / by Joachim Kurtz. p. cm. — (Modern Chinese philosophy, ISSN 1875-9386 ; v. 1) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-17338-5 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Logic—China—History. I. Title. II. Series. BC39.5.C47K87 2011 160.951—dc23 2011018902 ISSN 1875-9386 ISBN 978 90 04 17338 5 Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. CONTENTS List of Illustrations ...................................................................... vii List of Tables .............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Ai Weiwei Courtyard, Staircase & 1
    Ai Weiwei Courtyard, Staircase & 1 Do not remove from gallery Ai Weiwei Main Galleries: 19 September – 13 December 2015 Supported by Multimedia tour Main commentary Descriptive commentary 1 ‘Bed’ 1 4 5 6 7 8 Central 3 Hall 10 9 Way out Way in Wall 2 1 Vestibule Shop Staircase Courtyard You are in 1 1 2 Contents Page 4 Introduction to the exhibition Page 7 Introduction to this gallery Page 9 List of works Royal Academy Large Print is supported by GSK 3 Introduction to the exhibition Ai Weiwei is one of China’s most recognisable and contentious artists, as famous for his outspoken criticism of the government of his native country as for his art. His condemnation of state corruption and suppression of human rights and free speech has seen him beaten by government agents, hospitalised, imprisoned and denied the right to travel. Following his arrest and secret detention in 2011 Ai’s fame as a political dissident overshadowed his artistic practice. Yet Ai remained committed to his art and has produced a body of work that not only supports his political concerns but also gives free rein to his creativity and love of experimentation. 4 Born in Beijing in 1957, Ai Weiwei was an infant when his father, the poet Ai Qing, became a victim of the government’s suppression of free-thinking intellectuals and was sent with his family to a remote labour camp in northwest China for nearly twenty years. The family returned to Beijing after the death of Chairman Mao in 1976, an event that heralded a brief relaxation of state restriction.
    [Show full text]
  • Eventos De La Vida De Ai Weiwei E Historia China Contemporánea
    Eventos de la vida de Ai Weiwei e historia china contemporánea Alcatraz 2013 2013 Ai Weiwei presenta S.A.C.R.E.D. en un evento colateral El 30 de noviembre de 2013, Ai Weiwei coloca un ramo de la 55ª Bienal de Venecia en la Iglesia de de flores frescas en la cesta de la bicicleta fuera de la Sant’Antonin en Castello, el 29 de mayo. Seis grandes entrada de su estudio. Jura continuar este acto hasta dioramas reproducen escenas de su vida diaria que su pasaporte y su derecho a viajar libremente sean mientras estuvo detenidos en 2011. Ai no puede asistir restaurados. a numerosas exposiciones durante el periodo de cinco Mao Zedong años en que tiene prohibido viajar al extranjero. Juegos Olímpicos Ai Weiwei 2011 2014 1966-1976 Mao Zedong pone en marcha la Gran Revolución Cultural Proletaria en mayo de 1966. El movimiento dura diez años, con el objetivo declarado de imponer el comunismo al eliminar los elementos capitalistas, tradicionales y culturales de la sociedad china. Durante la fase más radical (1966-1969), millones de 1956-1957 personas son acusadas posteriormente de participar Entre 1956 y 1957, el Partido Comunista de China en actividades “burguesas”, sufren humillaciones 2010 2010-2011 2014 alienta a sus ciudadanos a expresar sus opiniones y públicas, encarcelamientos, torturas, incautaciones Ai Weiwei presenta Sunflower Seeds, una instalación a El gobierno de Shanghái informa a Ai Weiwei en El 26 de abril de 2014, se inaugura la exposición “15 criticar abiertamente las políticas nacionales. Este de bienes y diversas formas de hostigamiento.
    [Show full text]
  • WHY-NEW-YORK-Artworks-List.Pdf
    “Why New York” 是陈丹青、马可鲁、冯良鸿三人组合的第四次展览。这三位在中国当代艺术的不同阶 段各领风骚的画家在1990年代的纽约聚首,在曼哈顿和布鲁克林既丰饶又严酷的环境中白手起家,互 相温暖呵护,切磋技艺。到了新世纪,三人不约而同地回到中国,他们不忘艺术的初心,以难忘的纽约 岁月为缘由,频频举办联展。他们的组合是出于情谊,是在相互对照和印证中发现和发展各自的面目, 也是对艺术本心的坚守和砥砺。 不同于前几次带有回顾性的展览,这一次三位艺术家呈现了他们阶段性的新作。陈丹青带来了对毕加 索等西方艺术家以及中国山水及书法的研究,他呈现“画册”的绘画颇具观念性,背后有复杂的摹写、转 译、造型信息与图像意义的更替演化等话题。马可鲁的《Ada》系列在“无意识”中蕴含着规律,呈现出 书写性,在超越表面的技巧和情感因素的画面中触及“真实的自然”。冯良鸿呈现了2012年以来不同的 几种方向,在纯色色域的覆盖与黑白意境的推敲中展现视觉空间的质感。 在为展览撰写的文章中,陈丹青讲述了在归国十余年后三人作品中留有的纽约印记。这三位出生于上海 的画家此次回归家乡,又一次的聚首凝聚了岁月的光华,也映照着他们努力前行的年轻姿态。 “Why New York” marks the fourth exhibition of the artists trio, Chen Danqing, Ma Kelu and Feng Lianghong. Being the forerunners at the various stages in the progress of Chinese contemporary art, these artists first met in New York in the 1990s. In that culturally rich yet unrelenting environment of Manhattan and Brooklyn, they single-handedly launched their artistic practice, provided camaraderie to each other and exchanged ideas about art. In the new millennium, they’ve returned to China respectively. Bearing in mind their artistic ideals, their friendship and experiences of New York reunite them to hold frequent exhibitions together. With this collaboration built on friendship, they continue to discover and develop one’s own potential through the mirror of the others, as they persevere and temper in reaching their ideals in art. Unlike the previous retrospective exhibitions, the artists present their most recent works. Chen Danqing’s study on Picasso and other Western artists along with Chinese landscape painting and calligraphy is revealed in his conceptual painting “Catalogue”, a work that addresses the complex notions of drawing, translation, compositional lexicon and pictorial transformation. Ma Kelu’s “Ada” series embodies a principle of the “unconscious”, whose cursive and hyper expressive techniques adroitly integrates with the emotional elements of the painting to render “true nature”.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aesthetic and Ethic of the Chinese Diasporic Artist Mu Xin
    “Art Is to Sacrifice One’s Death”: The Aesthetic and Ethic of the Chinese Diasporic Artist Mu Xin by Muyun Zhou Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Carlos Rojas, Supervisor ___________________________ Eileen Chow ___________________________ Leo Ching Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Critical Asian Humanities in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2021 ABSTRACT “Art Is to Sacrifice One’s Death”: The Aesthetic and Ethic of the Chinese Diasporic Artist Mu Xin by Muyun Zhou Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Carlos Rojas, Supervisor ___________________________ Eileen Chow ___________________________ Leo Ching An abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Critical Asian Humanities in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2021 Copyright by Muyun Zhou 2021 Abstract In his world literature lecture series running from 1989 to 1994, the Chinese diasporic writer-painter Mu Xin (1927-2011) provided a puzzling proposition for a group of emerging Chinese artists living in New York: “Art is to sacrifice.” Reading this proposition in tandem with Mu Xin’s other comments on “sacrifice” from the lecture series, this study examines the intricate relationship between aesthetics and ethics in Mu Xin’s project of art. The question of diasporic positionality is inherent in the relationship between aesthetic and ethical discourses, for the two discourses were born in a Western tradition, once foreign to Mu Xin.
    [Show full text]
  • F Grass, 2014 Ai Weiwei (Beijing, China) Iron 13.5 X 13.5 X 0.3 M
    F Grass, 2014 Ai Weiwei (Beijing, China) Iron 13.5 x 13.5 x 0.3 m WHO MADE THIS ART INSTALLATION? Ai Weiwei is a versatile artist, sculptor, designer, part-time architect and political activist who today lives and works out of Beijing. Over the past twenty years he has gained international attention and recognition for his diverse body of work, often addressing questions of culture, history, politics, tradition, in addition to issues such as freedom of expression, individual and human rights, and the power of digital communication both in China and around the world. Though his work is rooted in his Chinese experience, his art that transcends dualities between East and West. He was named one of the Top 100 People of 2011 in Time magazine and has exhibited worldwide. One of his best known architectural projects is the Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics for which he partnered with architects Herzog & de Meuron for the design. He later distanced himself from the project, having become critical of the spectacle of the Olympics and glossing over human rights injustices in China. When asked why he participated in the designing of the Bird's Nest in the first place, Ai replied "I did it because I love design.” Born in 1957 Ai Weiwei grew up during the Cultural Revolution in China. The Ai family was deeply impacted by the policies of General Mao Zedong who was then head of the state. His father Ai Qing was a renowned poet but was denounced during the Anti Rightist movement in 1958, and as a result the Ai family was sent to labour camp and ultimately exiled for 16 years.
    [Show full text]
  • China's March on the 21St Century
    China’s March on the 21st Century A Report of the Aspen Strategy Group Kurt M. Campbell, Editor Willow Darsie, Editor u Co-Chairmen Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Brent Scowcroft To obtain additional copies of this report, please contact: The Aspen Institute Fulfillment Office P.O. Box 222 109 Houghton Lab Lane Queenstown, Maryland 21658 Phone: (410) 820-5338 Fax: (410) 827-9174 E-mail: [email protected] For all other inquiries, please contact: The Aspen Institute Aspen Strategy Group Suite 700 One Dupont Circle, NW Washington, DC 20036 Phone: (202) 736-5800 Fax: (202) 467-0790 Copyright © 2007 The Aspen Institute Published in the United States of America 2007 by The Aspen Institute All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 0-89843-471-8 Inv No.: 07-007 CONTENTS PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . v DISCUSSANTS AND GUEST EXPERTS . 1 WORKSHOP AGENDA. 5 SCENE SETTER AND DISCUSSION GUIDE Kurt M. Campbell . 13 THE CHINESE ECONOMY:MAKING STRIDES,GOING GLOBAL Dominic Barton and Jonathan Woetzel Dragon at the Crossroads: The Future of China’s Economy . 25 Lael Brainard Adjusting to China’s Rise . 37 ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND OTHER TRANSNATIONAL CHALLENGES John Deutch, Peter Ogden, and John Podesta China’s Energy Challenge . 53 Margaret A. Hamburg Public Health and China: Emerging Disease and Challenges to Health . 61 OF SOFT POWER AND CHINA’S PEACEFUL RISE Zha Jianying Popular Culture in China Today . 77 Wang Jisi What China Needs in the World and from the United States. 85 STRATEGIC COMPETITION,REGIONAL REACTIONS, AND GLOBAL GAMBITS Michael J. Green Meet the Neighbors: Regional Responses to China’s Rise .
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese Contemporary Art-7 Things You Should Know
    Chinese Contemporary Art things you should know By Melissa Chiu Contents Introduction / 4 1 . Contemporary art in China began decades ago. / 14 2 . Chinese contemporary art is more diverse than you might think. / 34 3 . Museums and galleries have promoted Chinese contemporary art since the 1990s. / 44 4 . Government censorship has been an influence on Chinese artists, and sometimes still is. / 52 5 . The Chinese artists’ diaspora is returning to China. / 64 6 . Contemporary art museums in China are on the rise. / 74 7 . The world is collecting Chinese contemporary art. / 82 Conclusion / 90 Artist Biographies / 98 Further Reading / 110 Introduction 4 Sometimes it seems that scarcely a week goes by without a newspaper or magazine article on the Chinese contemporary art scene. Record-breaking auction prices make good headlines, but they also confer a value on the artworks that few of their makers would have dreamed possible when those works were originally created— sometimes only a few years ago, in other cases a few decades. It is easy to understand the artists’ surprise at their flourishing market and media success: the secondary auction market for Chinese contemporary art emerged only recently, in 2005, when for the first time Christie’s held a designated Asian Contemporary Art sale in its annual Asian art auctions in Hong Kong. The auctions were a success, including the modern and contemporary sales, which brought in $18 million of the $90 million total; auction benchmarks were set for contemporary artists Zhang Huan, Yan Pei-Ming, Yue Minjun, and many others. The following year, Sotheby’s held its first dedicated Asian Contemporary sale in New York.
    [Show full text]
  • The Making of China's Peace with Japan
    The Making of China’s Peace with Japan Mayumi Itoh The Making of China’s Peace with Japan What Xi Jinping Should Learn from Zhou Enlai Mayumi Itoh Princeton New Jersey, USA ISBN 978-981-10-4007-8 ISBN 978-981-10-4008-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4008-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017939730 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations.
    [Show full text]