In 2012, it was the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany, “Chinese Culture Year” is one of the most important cultural series of activities held by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Chinese Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. The exhibition of Chinese public art is the most important in the Chinese culture year 2012, held in Germany, in the field of visual art, and the largest ever group exhibition of Chinese public art overseas.

The exhibition presents 21 pieces of work in a variety of forms including sculpture, installation, and performance of new media, by 22 active young artists from China. 21 pieces of work including “Sunflower Garden” by Xu Jiang, “Totem by Wu Jian’an, “Rockery” by Shi Jinsong, “Du Yuan” by Guan Huaibin, “Mountain of Penholder” by Liu Liyun, “Lion” by Chen Zhiguang, “Fix” by Mu Boyan, “Chinese Landscape” by Chen Wenling, “Chinese Landscape” by Xiang Yang, “Ruyi-Shishi” by Ding Yi, “Transformer” by Bi Heng, “Jacob Blessing the Children of Joseph” by Miao Xiaochun, “Yi Garden” by Zhu Pei, “Seeking for You” by Xu Junjie, etc. All of them are prominently and respectively located in the central of the city of Kassel, thereby Chinese contemporary art enters the real life space for Western viewers.

A special focus of public art is in the interactive dialogue between art, public, history, culture and everyday life. With its long history and important cultural tradition, Kassel is an ideal venue to display Chinese public art. Kassel became world famous as a cultural city with documenta, which has been held every five years in Kassel since 1955. Not only because of its high academic quality, but also its forward-looking orientation, documenta is one of the most important contemporary art exhibitions in the world. Documenta 13 held in Kassel in 2012, displayed and discussed the trend of international contemporary art. The following year, 2013, Kassel celebrates her 1100th anniversary.

[gallery link="file" orderby="title"]

Thus, the Chinese public art exhibition is bridging the documenta 13 and the start of the 1100th Anniversary of the city of Kassel, and is of multidimensional cultural significance. It has a dialogue not only with the city of Kassel that is 1100 years old, but also with the history of contemporary visual art. The Chinese public arts are located in key neighborhoods and the public spaces of the central part of Kassel city, presenting their unique cultural features in the context of a mixture of tradition and contemporary, it is both a gift to Kassel and to the Chinese Cultural Year.The exhibition is jointly curated by the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) and the Free University of Berlin (FUB). “Dialogue” and “symbiosis” are the overarching themes of the exhibition. With the interaction between the works of art, the environment and the public, it highlights the growing social importance of public art in a contemporary cultural context. The exhibition is supported by the Chinese Ministry of Culture, as well as of the city of Kassel. Kassel's mayor has personally participated in the preparation. Thanks for the support go to many institutes such as the Organizing Committee of documenta and Hesse Museum.

About the exhibition

Duration: October 2, 2012 - February 28, 2013

Location: Kassel, Germany

Organizers: National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Free University of Berlin (FU) in cooperation with the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the City of Kassel with the Mayor and City Council

Curators: Fan Di'an, Yu Ding, Klaus Siebenhaar