NOT ONCE UPON A TIME, BUT ONCE EVERY TWO YEARS, ART UNITES.
Unity, as important as it is to the society has become a difficult task to accomplish. From our ethnicity backgrounds, cultural, traditional and religious beliefs, to our political affiliations, the human race is divided. A large percentage of human relations is done through machineries and the internet as per this century.
It would make total sense to relate and acknowledge this saying by a Canadian writer Marshal McLuhan, that “As the unity of the modern world becomes increasingly a technological rather than a social affair, the techniques of the arts provide the most valuable means of insight into the real direction of our own collective purposes”. And in China, where art is used to spread the spirit of living in harmony with Mother Nature, this saying is much appreciated with existence of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Yinchuan.
MOCA Yinchuanwas founded in the year 2015, with the aim of using artwork produced by artists living in the twenty-first century, to reflect on the issues relevant to a society and the world around.
The Museum, which is the first contemporary art museum in North West China, is situated along the western banks of the Yellow River and is surrounded by natural wetlands. As it strives to bring about diversity in the development of contemporary art, MOCA Yinchuan is dedicated to Chinese and Islamic contemporary art.
This year, MOCA Yinchuan has a biennale with the theme “Starting from the desert. Ecologies on the Edge”. The title mainly targets to bring about the importance of an international exhibition that relates more with the geographical context of the North West of China, along with its history.
The biennale which began this month was schedule to take place from 9th June to 19th September 2018, being the second biennale for the museum after the first one in 2016 proved successful.
MOCA’S 2016 biennale which was curated by Bose Krishnamachar, an internationally acclaimed painter and Artist-Curator based in India, was held from September 9th to December 18th on the premises of MOCA Yinchuan and it included the display of artworks both from within the museum and outside the museum.
Despite this year’s biennale theme basing on local issues, it also intends to address urgent issues such as environmental, social and cultural, not only for China but across the globe.
The biennale which has selected 90 artists from over 30 regions to participate, is being curated by Artist Director Marco Scotini and is staged along the 15,000 square meters of the art museum. It will also exploit the Hui Nongqu Eco-Park and the International Artists Village.
The Contemporary Museum which proudly appointed Marco Scotini as the chief curator to work with the curatorial team that consists of Andris Brinkmanis, Zasha Colah, Paoli Caffoni and Lu Xinghua has hope on this exhibition, that it may achieve and accomplish its purpose, derived from its theme.
North West China is considered to be a remote area but basing on its historic silk road, the roots of knowledge, riches, and culture among others, exist, since it is a place recognised as a meeting point for the human race. Where East meets West.
Many would say once upon a time, but in this case, we say once in every two years, contemporary artists working globally meet with a common goal.