Standards,installation,LiuJianhua(China),2015-2016WhenitopenedonMarch27,2016,Utopia/Heterotopia:WuzhenInternationalContemporaryArtExhibitionunveiledatotalof130worksacross55seriesby40outstandingartistsfromcountriesaroundtheworld,inawiderangeofmediasuchasinstallation,performance,sculpture,sound,video,andanimationintheWestScenicDistrictandtheNorthSilkFactory.
TheNorthSilkFactory,themajorexhibitionarea,isarefurbishedworkshopofanabandonedsilkfactoryinWuzhen,testifyingtothedramaticchangesinChinesewatertownsduringthelasthalfofthe20thCentury.Thefactorylocationfeaturesworksby34artists.
TheWestScenicDistrictisiconicofancientwaterregionsinsouthernChina.Itpresentspublicartbysevenartists,characterizedbyimmensesizeandvisualtension.
Ofthe40participatingartists,13submittedcompletelynewproposalsspecificallyfortheexhibition,ofwhomeighthailingfromforeigncountriescommissionedlocalworkerstoassemblesite-specificworks,bridginginternationalartandtheancientwatertownofWuzhen.
鈥淓veryonehasautopiandream,whichbecameourdrivingforcetomakeadifference,鈥漣llustratesFengBoyi,chiefcuratoroftheexhibition.鈥淲enevergetboredwiththisthemedespitethefactthatyouwillseeheterotopianchangestotheutopianapproach.Thisexhibitionisaboutourutopianvisionsaswellasourheterotopianrealization.鈥滻RememberII,sculpture,RichardDeacon(Britain),2012TheInvertedPanoramaHousebyOlafurEliasson(Germany),installation,OlafurEliasson,2016
FountainofHistoricalMaterialismbyLiSongsong(China),oilpainting,2016
LawofPeripheralUnitsbyKishioSuga(SouthKorea),installation,1997-2014
IntrospectiveCavitybyYinXiuzhen(China),installation,2008
BleachingbyJaffaLam(China),installation,2016
EntanglementbySuiJianguo(China),sculpture,2016
Again,Still,YetbyAnnHamilton(USA),installation,2016
CustosCavumbyChoeU-Ram(SouthKorea),machineinstallation,2011
IntrospectiveCavitybyYinXiuzhen(China),2016
TheFloatingFishbyFlorentijnHofman(Holland),installation,2016Wuzhen鈥檚historycanbetracedbackatleast1,300years.Overthelastfewdecades,however,ithastransformedintoamulti-facetedmoderntownshipwhileprotectingitshistoricalandculturallegacies.Since2013whenitsfirstinternationaltheaterfestivalwaslaunched,Wuzhenhasbroadeneditsinternationalhorizonwithlarge-scaleinternationalculturalexchangeactivities.In2014,WuzhensuccessfullyhostedthefirstWorldInternetConference,andhassincebeennamedthepermanentvenuefortheevent,solidifyingitsreputationasaninternationallyadvanced,modernizedtownoverthepast10-plusyears.
Today,Wuzhenhasemergedasaneconomic,political,social,andculturalhub,especiallyasauniquespaceandenvironmentaffordingcommunicationbetweenmodernartistsfromaroundtheplanet.
TheexhibitionrunsuntilJune26,2016.Foritsduration,Wuzhenwillprovidevariousfreepubliceducationcampaignsaswellasregularprofessionaltourguideservices.