The exhibition presents 17 young Chinese artists at the interface of thousand-year-old traditions and new technology. In order to open up a dialogue and an exchange, Bonniers Konsthall has invited Chinese curator Zhang Wei to present her perspective on contemporary Chinese art. In collaboration with Bonniers Konsthall, she has produced an exhibition that provides us with an insight into today’s China, not only through the works by the participating artists, but also through workshops, lectures, conversations, film screenings, design and a publication.
From the beginning of the 1990s, China’s dynamically expanding art scene has continued to attract large audiences and received much international acclaim. In addition, art has become a symbol of the emerging new China. The exhibition at Bonniers Konsthall reflects a China in transition, spanning depictions of the old, traditional society and the new culture emerging alongside technological developments and economic growth.
…this process of change and travel is beautifully expressed in (Zhang Wei’s) exhibition title: Sprout from White Nights, which, among other things, refers to the white nights of the North and to the way the works of a group of Chinese artists are translated into this context.
Sara Arrhenius, Director of Bonniers Konsthall
The artists participating in Sprout from White Nights were born in the 1970s and live and work mainly in the large industrial and economically expanding cities on China’s east coast: Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Many of them are well-known on the international art scene and have exhibited at, among other places, biennials in Venice, Istanbul and Lyon.
Zhang Wei is a curator working in Ghuangzhou and Beijing. She is the artistic co-director (with Hu Fang) of the much-acclaimed Vitamin Creative Space in Guangzhou in south-east China.
Workshop with Xu Tan
The Keywords School workshop takes place in Xu Tan’s exhibition installation, and functions as a conversation between the artists and participants. The workshop is built upon Xu Tan’s project Searching for Keywords, where he interviewed around 60 people in order to better understand conceptions of contemporary China. Out of this material he garnished a few key words – for example, fashion, corruption, success and superstition – which will be used in the workshop to discuss China from various angles.
In collaboration with Iaspis och Södertörn University.
Wednesday evenings
The exhibition Sprout from White Nights provides us with an insight into today’s China, not only through the works by the participating artists, but also through workshops, lectures, conversations, film screenings, design and a publication.
1 October 7pm
Johan Lagerkvist. Political Scientist and China expert Johan Lagerkvist speaks about development in China from his book China in the Midst of Globalization.
5 October 7pm
Artist talk with Xu Tan. Moderator: Journalist and China expert Ulrika K Engström.
22 October 7pm
Swedish premiere of Yang Fudong’s film An Estranged Paradise.
29 October 7pm
A conversation between exhibition curator Zhang Wei and the publication editor Hu Fang.
12 November 7pm
Swedish premiere of Cao Fei’s film My Father.
Top image: Kan Xuan, Protected by colors (Skyddad av färger), 2003. Photo: Bonniers Konsthall
