Museum exhibits the rise and strength of female artists

Echoes of Her Century: A Global Exhibition of Women's Art, currently on view at the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai, brings together works by nearly 200 female artists from more than 20 countries and regions, spanning from the early 20th century to the present.

The exhibition seeks to trace and articulate a 100-year art history shaped and written by women, according to Wang Wei, the exhibition's curator and founding director of the Long Museum.

As early as the 1920s, female artists began to emerge within the male-dominated art world. By the mid to late-20th century, amid the rise of pluralism and critical discourse, women developed artistic languages and creative practices of unprecedented diversity.

"Sincere, emancipated, independent, and self-aware — these artists articulate their own distinct voices," Wang says.

Ten years ago, Wang curated She: International Women Artists Exhibition, which was billed as one of China's first exhibitions to feature female artists from 13 countries spanning over 10 centuries.

Since then, Wang has continued to pay close attention to female artists and their increasing prominence in the global art scene. "Women have become an integral part of the core power that creates the outlook of contemporary art," she finds.

More often, they are referred to as "outstanding artists" instead of "outstanding female artists". This shows that women are being viewed more for their achievements than by gender, she says.

One of the featured artists, Yu Hong, shared her past experience with the Long Museum at the exhibition opening on March 10. She held a large-scale solo exhibition in 2019 titled The World of Saha, which was curated by Jerome Sans. It was a great challenge for any artist presenting their work at the Long Museum because of its 12-meter-high ceiling, Yu said.

With one of her paintings featured in the current exhibition, "the museum has witnessed my progress as an artist, and I have witnessed the Long Museum's development," she says, sharing that her collaboration with the museum feels "precious".