| The 1980s was a seminal period in the development of Chinese contemporary art. Many of today’s most celebrated artists in China attended art academies and had their first exhibitions during that time. However, research materials, even images of individual artwork and exhibition installations, have been hard to find. In order to foster research into this important period of recent art history, Asia Art Archive (AAA) has for the last four years conducted a focused archiving project; collecting, indexing and preserving hard-to-find documentary materials for the use of future students and scholars. This project will culminate later this year in the official launch of AAA’s comprehensive website portal called: 'Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990'. |
Background:
Thirty years ago, China embarked on a reform program that transformed not only the economy but also the arts. Since then the growth and production of contemporary art have been dramatic, and so has the production of documentary materials bearing evidence to the critical debates that surrounded its development. However to this day many of the most important art publications and critical writing, especially from the late 1970s and 1980s, have been difficult to locate, due primarily to the lack of systematic collecting and archiving infrastructure.
In 2006, Asia Art Archive began a focused archiving project called 'Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990'. This project aimed at developing a comprehensive collection of primary research materials including books, periodicals, newspapers, exhibition brochures, invitations, video recordings, correspondence and other relevant documents. As part of this project AAA has also digitized the personal archives of renowned artists and curators – Fei Dawei, Zhang Xiaogang, Zheng Shengtian, Lu Peng, Mao Xuhui and Wu Shanzhuan. With a total of over 70,000 digital documents, AAA now maintains the world’s largest and most systematically organized archive of documentary material about Chinese art made during the 1980s.
As part of this project, AAA has conducted over 70 in-depth videotaped interviews with artists, critics, curators and scholars on contemporary Chinese art in the 1980s. From a portion of these interviews, AAA has created a documentary film about experimental art in South China (Guangzhou) in the 1980s entitled From Jean-Paul Sartre to Teresa Teng: Contemporary Cantonese Art in the 1980s.
AAA’s 1980s archiving project will culminate with the launch of a comprehensive website portal called www.china1980s.org in September 2010. To celebrate this launch, AAA will collaborate with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in organizing a series of events this fall in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and New York. These events will include panel discussions with key artists and critics, as well as a presentation of MoMA’s important publication titled Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, edited by Professor Wu Hung.
Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980-1990 was made possible by the generous support of:
The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation
The W.L.S. Spencer Foundation
Ilyas and Mara Khan
Foundation of the Arts Initiatives |
