Here Be Dragons—Arthub Asia in Venice
Arthub Asia brings “Here Be Dragons,” an unprecedented effort by Asia’s breakthrough contemporary artists, to Venice on June 1st. The ambitious program features an exhibition by Xijing Men (Chen Shaoxiong, Gimhongsok, and Tsuyoshi Ozawa); a solo project by Jompet Kuswidananto; along with dedicated public programs, two publications, and a related iPad application. Developed in collaboration with the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation and Gervasuti Foundation, and spearheaded
by Davide Quadrio and Defne Ayas of Arthub Asia, a non-profit initiative devoted to contemporary art creation in China and throughout Asia, “Here Be Dragons” consists of:
XIJING
The Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation and Arthub Asia proudly present “Xijing”, the first institutional exhibition dedicated to the work of the Xijing Men collective, the unique collaborative team composed of artists Chen Shaoxiong (China), Tsuyoshi Ozawa (Japan) and Gimhongsok (South Korea). Xijing—the capital of the West—exists upon a fictive geopolitical axis created in correspondence to the real cities of Beijing (capital of the North), Nanjing (capital of the South) and Dongjing/Tokyo (capital of the East). Hosted at the Foundation’s main site in Piazza San Marco, the show is a quixotic journey through the creative universe of Xijing – a life-world of encounters, places and compounded narratives awakened by the thereof named collective since 2007. This exhibition starts a program of residencies by Bevilacqua La Masa centered on Asian artists called “Silk Road” and inspired by the ancient link between Venice and the East.
Dates: 2 June–25 September 2011
Opening: Wednesday June 1, 2011 at 6.30 pm
Artist talk: Wednesday June 1, 2011 at 4 pm, with exhibition curator Beatrice Leanza.
Address: Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation St. Mark’s Square Gallery, Piazza San Marco 71/c, Venice
Hours: Wed-Sun 10.30 am–5.30 pm
Third Realm
How much further to the East do we have to venture in order to understand and re-decipher the West? How much more attention should we pay to a nation’s degrees of colonial coding with a view to revealing its democratization process? What if an artist were to employ a historian’s research strategy in search of a ‘third reality’? Arthub Asia and the Gervasuti Foundation proudly present “Third Realm”—a new site-specific project by Indonesian artist Jompet Kuswidananto in Venice. The artist is renowned for his delicate kinetic installations, which investigate the complex, colonial history of Indonesia and Java.
Dates: 5 June 2011–29 September 2011
Opening date: Saturday, June 4 2011 from 2pm to 9pm.
Public program: Saturday, June 4 2011, 3 pm: Arthub Asia, Gervasuti Foundation and Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation jointly host drinks and informal talks by friends and colleagues including Charles Esche, Ho Tzu Nyen, Stefan Rusu, Tayeba Lipi, Sabina Santarossa, Prince Claus Fund’s representatives, and many others. (at Fondamenta S. Ana (Via Garibaldi) Castello 995)
Exhibition Address: Fondamenta S. Ana (Via Garibaldi) Castello 993.
Hours: Tues- Sun 10.30 am – 18.00 pm
Arthub Asia also welcomes the mobile installation “Commercial Break” by Garage Moscow to Venice. Curated by Nevlle Wakefield, the project will be presented during the opening week of the Venice Biennale from 1–5 June and available to view on POST from June 1 through November 27. Artists invited by Arthub Asia to this program include: Heman Chong, Jennifer Wen Ma, Lu Yang, The Propeller Group, Ruangrupa, Yi Zhou, Zhou Xiaohu, Xu Tan, Tintin Wulia, Cevdet Erek, Huang Kui, Hu Jieming. Content consultants: Arthub Asia’s Defne Ayas and Davide Quadrio
About Arthub Asia
Spearheaded by a dynamic team of curators and producers—Defne Ayas, Davide Quadrio, and Qiu Zhijie—Arthub Asia is a non-profit contemporary art initiative devoted to art creation across Asia. In collaboration with museums and other public and private spaces and institutions, Arthub Asia initiates and delivers projects through a sustained dialogue with visual and new media artists. For the occasion of the Xijing exhibition, Arthub Asia teamed up with Beijing based curator Beatrice Leanza. The Third Realm project is made possible through the support of FarEastFarWest Collection.
Contact: press@arthubasia.org