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Boasting numerous museums and array of outstanding cultural institutions, the artistic and cultural landscape along the Rhine and Ruhr is unique worldwide. Events staged during the European City of Culture “RUHR2010″ proved to be a key milestone in boosting the national image of this culturally rich region. To ensure a lasting legacy from the RUHR.2010 festivities, the region’s museums then explored the possibility of launching a joint international exhibition project on the initiative of the Foundation for Art and Culture. With “CHINA 8 – Contemporary Art from China on the Rhine and Ruhr”, they have now succeeded in bringing this idea to fruition: eight cities along the Rhine and Ruhr, nine museums and around 120 artists – in the most comprehensive museum-based survey of contemporary Chinese art worldwide. CHINA 8 is under the patronage of the Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economics and Energy Sigmar Gabriel.

Caption (f. l. t. r.): Ferdinand Ullrich, Director Kunsthalle Recklinghausen; Georg Elben, Director und Curator Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten Marl; Dan Xu, Curator Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen; Thomas Hüser, Spokesman CHINA 8; Wiliam A. Ewing, Curator Museum Folkwang; Walter Smerling, Director MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst.

Art Connects – CHINA 8 Shuttle Bus Service
Visitors planning to attend the different venues of this exhibition, will, at the same time, be embarking on a journey through the Ruhr region. Every weekend from May 16 onwards, shuttle buses decked out in the CHINA 8 “look” will be linking up the participating museums and cities. The shuttle bus service is provided to CHINA 8 visitors free of charge, upon presentation of their admission ticket or their CHINA 8 combiticket. Each bus is accompanied by a guide, thus enabling museum visitors to obtain general information on the exhibitions awaiting them whilst travelling to the venues. The exact timetables are available in all CHINA 8 museums and at www.china8.de or www.rheinlandbus.de. Art connects: The deployment of shuttle buses has been made possible by the Sparkassen in North Rhine-Westphalia – located in all CHINA 8 cities. The bus service is operated with the friendly cooperation of DB Bahn Rheinlandbus.

Caption:
CHINA 8-Bus-Shuttles

CHINA 8 combiticket
Entrance fees for the individual exhibitions comprising CHINA 8 are set by the respective museums. In addition, CHINA 8 combitickets are also available at a fee of 18 euros for adults/10 euros for concessions*. Combitickets entitle holders to one-time admission in all participating institutions throughout the entire duration of the exhibition.

The Museums and the Focus of their Exhibitions
In line with their collecting history, their own particular spatial conditions and programmatic focus, each museum is exhibiting different genres of contemporary Chinese art: Under the title “New Figuration”, the Lehmbruck Museum will be showing sculptures, the Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr installations and sculptures as “Models of Irritation”, and the Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen is devoting itself to ink painting and calligraphy under the title “Tradition Today”. The Kunsthalle Recklinghausen is projecting a “Panorama of Painting” with its presentation of emerging and established positions. Exploring “The Vocabulary of the Visible World”, the MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst is specialising in Chinese painters who have already gained national and international acclaim. Video and sound as a medium of “Arrested Time” are being presented in the Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten Marl, whilst the Osthaus Museum Hagen is featuring installations and objects as “Paradigms of Art”. Under the title “Works in Progress”, the Museum Folkwang in Essen is exhibiting a collection of modern photography, which is also being shown in China simultaneously. With its “Overview – Views of China”, the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf serves as the “entrée” to the exhibition and has assembled works by several of the participating artists from across various genres. Their vibrant interaction resolves into a multifaceted snapshot of the prevailing artistic landscape in the People’s Republic of China.