Qiu Zhijie: Journeys without Arrivals

Lunds konsthall is pleased to present Journeys without Arrivals, the first comprehensive overview of Qiu Zhijie, one of the most important Chinese artists of his generation.
The wide spectrum of Qiu Zhijie’s artworks—ranging in media and encompassing different temporalities and geographies—reveals an intimate portrait of the artist as a polymath, whose artistic work is an integral part of a larger, holistic approach to life. Embracing the concept of Total Art, he demonstrates the role of art as a powerful engine for coming to terms with globalization in China and across the world.

Qiu Zhijie has experienced the rapid changes that Chinese society has undergone over the last decades as it has opened itself up to economic and cultural globalization. He draws on certain pictorial traditions, from calligraphy to handicraft techniques, and pushes them into the present. It is in this context that he represents an ideal example of an artist as a go-between, whose broad ideas and engagements—as an artist, teacher and political activist—become strong, resolute and profound gestures/images of the contemporary world.

The exhibition is a journey through Qiu Zhijie’s philosophic and artistic universe, but also a more private exploration of his figure and his convictions. It aims at interpreting the work developed by Qiu Zhijie over the past three decades for the audience of Lunds konsthall by pinning down what is lost in translation and explaining how the culturally specific can eventually become culturally transcendent. As a self-curator and self-archivist, Qiu Zhijie has closely collaborated with the curatorial team in devising the display of his artworks, which is conceived as a sequence of themes that have never ceased to echo one another throughout his artistic practice.

Born in Fujian Province, P.R. China in 1969, Qiu Zhijie lives in Beijing and Hangzhou, dividing his time between his artistic production, curatorial projects and academic roles as Professor and Dean of the School of Experimental Art (CAFA), and Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou.

Partners
The exhibition is developed in collaboration with Van Abbemuseum, in Eindhoven and Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva.

Curators
Charles Esche, Annie Fletcher, Davide Quadrio