OPENASIA 2OO4
7. International Exhibition of Sculptures and Installations
The East meets the West
1 September – 10 October 2004, Venice – Lido
OPENASIA 2OO4 7th International Exhibition of Sculptures and Installations is the result of a dialogue between East and West, giving a voice to a group of Asian and international artists. The aim is not only to explore current artistic research in the East, but also to discover the deep interest Western artists have shown in the Asian cultural context.
The exhibition, planned by Paolo De Grandis, will be held at Venice Lido parallel to the 61st International Film Festival. The event's official curator is Chang Tsong-zung, an internationally recognised, authoritative scholar and eminent art critic of contemporary Chinese art.
Asia is a veritable social and human universe, which is becoming increasingly vast and important as regards world balances. It is a globalised world undergoing continuous expansion and opening up to the Western world, in a transcultural comparison based on a new line of research and ideological mediation. It is an area that is rich in history and traditions. Its culture and lifestyle are inevitably present in the creations of its artists, whose art cannot but have special, if not indeed unique, characteristics. Thus, whilst the influences are evident, so too is the individual itinerary each has chosen, on the one hand freeing himself from the self-evident attachment to social themes or topical problems, and on the other seeking to identify new itineraries.
The exhibition dedicated to Oriental contemporary art and its most innovative trends represents an extraordinary opportunity to discover emerging talent and to learn more of established names, as well as to explore the unknown, enchanting works of many Western artists who have over the course of their careers developed a strong interest in the Oriental figurative tradition. The exhibition thus not only offers an incursion into a specific cultural situation, but also focuses on transversal interpretations of a theme of global interest.
The event, which will bring the most interesting artists from the Asian and international scene to the Venice Lido, will explore new forms of knowledge and culture which may be seen in the charming spaces of the Lido: along the promenade, in the squares and open-air spaces, within the Blue Moon complex and in the leading hotels. The exhibition will include works in various media, from sculpture to video art and installation; all expressive forms evocative of the personal and collective memory of the artists who each year appear in OPEN, and there compare their work and recover and criticise a new system of art.
There will also be 5 special projects seeing the involvement of the following artists: Yoko Ono 'Onochord' (Nutopia) - Hong Xing Ye 'Redxing' (Guilin Yuzi Paradise, People's Republic of China) - Virginia Ryan, Kofi Setordji, Samuel Olou, Joseph Kola Ogunsunlade (Adinkra Art Gallery & Friends, Ghana) - Luka Stojnic & Giuseppe Dall'Arche ('Young Artists, Croatia) - Marianne Heske (Homage To Pierre Restany, Norway).
The eclectic artistic project, Easter Island Project (Italy – Easter Island, Chile), curated by Marco Nereo, Rotelli and produced by sculptors Luciano Massari and Bene Aukara Tuki Pate will present the installation entitled Giardino del Pensiero (Garden of thought), and a performance (Danza Poetica-Poetic dance) by the famous Matato'a group of dancers.
Through reciprocal comparison, in OPENASIA the East meets the West, highlights the need to find alternative avenues, aiming to gauge the concept of identity and recover a cultural pluralism in a shared stylistic contamination. This year, Arte Communications is once more organising, for the fourth edition, the OPEN PRIZE Fondazione Mimmo Rotella. This is a special prize awarded collaterally to the 61st International Venice Film Festival, which will reward a competing director and, for the first time, an artist participating in OPEN. The prize consists of a work of art created by Mimmo Rotella.
Other participating artists included:
Virginia Ryan, Kofi Setordji, Samuel K. Olou, Joseph Kola Ogunsunlade (Adinkra Art Gallery & Friends, Ghana).
Luka Stojnić e Giuseppe Dall'Arche ("Giovani artisti", Croatia).
Marianne Heske (Homage to Pierre Restany, Norvegia).
Richard Long (Inghilterra), Luigi Ontani (Italia), Max Neuhaus (USA), Ben Vautier (France), Vittore Frattini (Italy), Alain Arias-Misson (Belgium), Chen Zhen (China), Fathiya Tahiri (Marocco), Hu Xiangcheng (China), Cornelia Kubler Kavanagh (Virgin Islands, USA), Ye Fang (China), Liu Jianhua (China), Melita Couta (Cyprus), Nikos Kouroussis (Cyprus), Lim, Hyoung Jun (Corea), Alexis Leyva Machado Kcho (CUBA), Ricarda Peters (Germany), Nyoman Nuarta (Indonesia), Carmel Mooney (Ireland), Eti Haik-Naor (Israel), Ursula Huber (Italy), Emanuele Viscuso (Italy), Lucia Cheung (Macao - China), Tan Swie Hian (Singapore), Trinh Tuan (Vietnam), Ludovico De Luigi (Venice).
MINISTERO DEGLI AFFARI ESTERI
MINISTERO PER BENI E LE ATTIVITA' CULTURALI
REGIONE del VENETO
PROVINCIA di VENEZIA
COMUNE di VENEZIA
