Trailer of the "Tides of the Century: 2020 Ocean Flower Island International Exhibition"
The opening exhibition of the Ocean Flower Island Museum in Hainan, Tides of the Century: 2020 Ocean Flower Island International Exhibition, held its press conference at CAFA Art Museum in CAFA Art Museum on December 22, 2020.
The exhibition is academically supported by the CAFA Art Museum, organized by the China Arts and Entertainment Group, Ltd. and the Evergrande Group, and co-organized by the China International Exhibition Agency, Ltd., the Ocean Flower Island Museum and the CAFA Silk Road Art Research and Creativity Center. The exhibition will showcase over 140 works by more than 80 artists from 23 countries around the world. While the whole world is battling the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition at the Ocean Flower Island Museum supported by artists from five continents reflects the common wish of supporting each other to overcome the difficult times.
The exhibition’s academic board is led by Fan Di’an, and composed of scholars including Zhang Zikang, Sui Jianguo, Wang Duanting, Zhu Qingsheng, Adrian George, Caitlin DOherty, Paul Gladston, Nanjo Fumio, Shigeo Chiba and Akira Tatehata. The deputy director of CAFAM Wang Chunchen is the head curator of the exhibition. Dr. Katerina Koskina, former director of the Greek National Museum of Contemporary Art is the guest of honor curator for Greek art. Yue Jieqiong, deputy director of the CAFA Silk Road Art Research and Creativity Center, and Xu Jialing, curator from the China International Exhibition Agency, Ltd., are also taking part in the exhibition as curators.
One of the highlights of the exhibition is the participation of Greece as guest of honor. Greek art is an important component of the exhibition. Dr. Katerina Koskina curates the exhibition based on the Socratic elenchus, which features the unity of opposites in perception. It is both the foundation of Greek philosophy and the origin of modern western philosophy, and at the same time it echoes with the dialectic thinking in China which both honors the history and keeps pace with the time.
Dr. Katerina Koskina
The Greek art unit is supported by the Greek Embassy in China and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China. The exhibition will showcase influential artworks created by over 20 Greek artists since the 1970s. Many exhibits are from the collection of the Greek National Museum of Contemporary Art. Some were exhibited at international exhibitions including the Venice Biennale and the Documenta.
Aemilia Papaphilippou, Chess Continuum
Costas Varotsos, Horizons
Marianna Strapatsaki, Invisible Places - The Vast White (2008)
The exhibition can be seen as a miniature of the Greek contemporary art. It features artists including Takis, George Zongolopoulos, Costas Varotsos, Amelia Papaphilippou and Theo Triantafyllidis, and presents the latest edition of the Athens Digital Arts Festival. The Greek art unit not only shows the picture of Greek contemporary art in a clear, multi-dimensional structure, but also responds to the exchange between Chinese and Greek civilizations.
George Zongolopoulos, Tel-Neant (1997)
Theo Triantafyllidis, Nike (2018)
Theodoulos, Aftofota-Eterofota (1996)
Like professor Fan Di’an said in his speech: “Having invited Greece as the exhibition’s guest of honor, it initiates a new dialogue between the two lands where two of the most ancient civilizations was born. Greece, as a maritime nation, could also form a dialogue that links the history and the present with the Hainan Island. It is important for the economic, political and cultural exchange between Greece and China as well.”
Fan Di’an, president of China Artists Association, director of CAFA
The exhibition was originally planned to open at the end of 2020. Due to the influence of the pandemic, the opening date is postponed to February 2021, yet the exhibition continues to keep the time 2020 in its name. By doing so, the organizers hope to highlight the cooperative spirit that makes the exhibition happen despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic.
The head curator Wang Chunchen said that the title “tides of the century” means a closer exchange of not only merchandise, but also thoughts, emotions, culture and art in the globalized 21st century. The need for connection is especially strong amid the pandemic.
Wang Chunchen
Apart from the Greek art, the exhibition also features artists from other parts of the world, including Tony Cragg, Marc Quinn, Xu Bing, Tatsuo Miyajima, Leandro Erlich and Loris Cecchini. Artists like Gabriel Dawe and Kedgar Volta will also showcase their work in China for the first time in this exhibition. Gabriel Dawe will also create a new edition of his work Rainbow for the exhibition.
Past exhibition of Gabriel Dawe’s Rainbow. Courtesy of the artist.
Kedgar Volta, The Fragility of the Promise (2019). Courtesy of the artist.
Park Lisa, LUMA (2015). Courtesy of the artist.
To bring some site-specific tactile experience to the audience, French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot will also present her installation work, which uses Danzhou diaosheng as its core element. Artists Wang Jianwei, Song Dong, Choi Jeong-Hwa, Sinta Tantra and Liu Jiayu also creates new works for the exhibition.
Sinta Tantra, Horizon to Horizon (2018). Courtesy of the artist.
Miu Xiaochun, Restart. Courtesy of the artist.
Six artists Cai Yaling, Yue Yanna, Li Linlin, Hu Qingyan, Tian Xiaolei and Li Yuanchen have created works during their residency at the Ocean Flower Island Museum. The works to be exhibited show their reflection upon issues such as marine environmental protection, life and consumerism.
The “An Azure Rendez-vou” unit, curated by Yue Jieqiong, includes works by artists from Venezuela, the US, and Austria. This unit is linked by artist Lu Zhengyuan’s installation “seawater”, to show the concept that mankind is a community linked by the ocean.
Sui Jianguo, Cloud Garden, Handprint 3#, Photopolymer 3D printing and steel frame, 700×300×600cm, 2019. Courtesy of the artist.
Xu Bing, Background Story: Thousand Li of River and Mountain, 450x932x30cm, 2014. Courtesy of the artist studio.
Zhang Xiaogang, The Drawer of Time, 2018. Courtesy of the artist studio.
The Ocean Flower Island Museum is located in Danzhou, where Chinese poet Su Shi was banished in his twilight years. The culture of Hainan also began from the incident. Based on the theme of “oriental poetry”, curator Xu Jialing invited poets and artists Adunis, Lv De’an, Cheqianzi, Dai Guangyu, He Canbo, Tian Wei, Jia Qiuyu and Fu Xiaotong to create works responding to the contemporary development of oriental poetry.
Georgios Iliopoulos, Ambassador of Greece to China, delivers a speech via the video.
At the press conference, guests and the press exchanged ideas around the two main background issues behind the exhibition, the establishment of the Hainan Free Trade Port and the development of the Maritime Silk Road, and topics such as the exhibition’s influence on the art and culture of Hainan, and how contemporary art could blend into the local culture of Danzhou.
The exhibition will be held from February 8 to December 8, 2021.
Photos and Chinese text by CAFA Art Info
Tides of the Century: 2020 Ocean Flower Island International Exhibition
Academic supporter: CAFA
Organizer: China Arts and Entertainment Group, Ltd., Evergrande Group
Undertaker: China International Exhibition Agency, Ltd., Ocean Flower Island Museum and
Co-organizer: CAFA Silk Road Art Research and Creativity Center
Media support: CAFA Art Info
Time: 2021/02/08 - 12/08
Location: Ocean Flower Island Museum, Danzhou, Hainan
