Beijing is also playing host to an event that looks to create bridges of understanding through the fusion of cultures. An exhibition featuring German contemporary art has kicked off in the Chinese capital. What makes this exhibit special is that all the works selected and brought to China are by foreign artists living in Germany. Titled "Art Space Germany", the event tries to reveal the intercultural dialogue that takes place in the world of art.
The globalization has posed a new question to every country in the world that how its culture is to be presented, and made available to others. 'Art Space' tries to answer that. By putting these pieces from different parts of the world together, the exhibition aims to create something new and shed light on the cross-culture dialogue.
The Goethe-Institut China is organizing the exhibition. Peter Anders, the organisation's director, says the exhibition is trying to show how in the art world, national borders are easily overcome.
"Culture is a universal artefact and mutual influences of different cultures in a globalized world are giving us an insight into the artist practice here," says Peter Anders, director of Goethe-Institut China.
Art Space Germany attempts to break down preconceived attitudes in Germany when it comes to cultural exchange: namely that German culture can only be represented by artists born in the country. As Ursula Zeller, the curator of the exhibition believes, the contemporary art scene has long been more colorful and multi-faceted than certificates of nationality can indicate.
"After the second world war, we had a lot of programs to bring in art teachers from other countries to have residencies in Germany. And all of a sudden the German art scene blossomed and developed very well. To develop a very good and very interesting art scene you also have to have the influences from the outside," Zeller says.
Different cultures are coming together in a speed never before seen thanks to globalization. And artists are taking on a greater role when it comes to building bridges across various cultures.
The exhibits feature foreign artists who have relocated to Germany.
Candice Breitz grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa and lived in New York for ten years before she decided to move to Berlin. She found comfort in the inclusiveness of German culture that loves to embrace foreign artists like her.
Her work on display is a juxtaposition of video interviews of a pair of Korean twins living in Canada. What interests the artist is that two individuals born and raised in similar experiences try define themselves as individuals despite all the similarities.
"I see my work as an artist I think of myself a little bit as a 'translator'. I'm very interested in how the cultures which we grow up, the countries in which we grow up, the political system, the social system, the family system. I'm very interested in individual becomes individual. I'm very interested in how we are shaped and sculpted by the very particular ingredients that make us who we are," says Candice Breitz, an artist.
The exhibit in China is complemented by works from two Chinese artists Zhu Jinshi and Qin Yunfen who have both been living in Berlin for decades. Their works draw inspiration from Chinese poems and modern social issues.
"Art Space Germany" will be on display at the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum until early January before it visits Nanjing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Hangzhou and other cities across China.
