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. Visitors planning to attend the various venues of this exhibition, will also be embarking on a journey through the Ruhr region. Fritz Pleitgen, former CEO of RUHR.2010 GmbH: “The European City of Culture RUHR.2010 demonstrated that in terms of forging collaborative partnerships, the cultural metropolis of the Ruhr is internationally competitive. Consequently we are confident that one week after the inauguration of the Venice Biennale, CHINA 8 is set to mark a further highlight in Europe’s art calendar. “Patron Federal Minister Sigmar Gabriel opens CHINA 8
CHINA 8 is under the patronage of the Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economics and Energy Sigmar Gabriel, who is set to open the exhibition on May 13 at the central inauguration ceremony being staged in the MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst in Duisburg. “Contemporary Chinese art has enriched and energized the international art scene, as visitors to the CHINA 8 exhibition will confirm. Simultaneously presenting contemporary positions from China in eight cities and nine museums is a marvellous idea. And this concept not only reflects the diversity of modern art, but also furnishes the various genres, be it painting, photography or sculpture, with the ideal setting,” explained Federal Minister Sigmar Gabriel. From Ascension Day onwards, May 14, 2015, the exhibition will be open to the general public. Local opening events, artist conversations and live-performances are also being staged on May 14, and over the subsequent weekend. Thanks to the support of our airline partner Finnair, up to 30 artists are expected to attend the inauguration.Artistic Director
Overall artistic responsibility for the exhibition project CHINA 8 has been jointly entrusted to Walter Smerling (spokesman for the curatorial committee and Director of the MKM Museum Küppersmühle), Ferdinand Ullrich (Kunsthalle Recklinghausen), and Tobia Bezzola (Director of the Folkwang Museum). In close consultation with the directors of all the participating museums, the curatorial committee has elaborated the overall artistic concept.
The Chinese consultant to the curatorial committee is Fan Di‘an, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Peking. Responsibility for the individual exhibition venues lies with the respective project curators: Georg Elben for the Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten Marl, William A. Ewing and the co-curators Holly Roussell Perret-Gentil for the Museum Folkwang, Walter Smerling for the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, the Lehmbruck Museum, the MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, the Osthaus Museum Hagen and the Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr, Ferdinand Ullrich for the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen and Dan Xu for the Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen.