On September 27, 2020, a large-scale contemporary art exhibition on the theme of the Yellow River, “The Endless Life—The Narrative of the Yellow River” commenced at the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan on the bank of the Yellow River. The exhibition is hosted by the Municipal People’s Government of Yinchuan and the Department of Culture and Tourism of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, organized by the Administration of Culture, Tourism, Radio and Television of Yinchuan, and executed by the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan. It focuses on protecting, inheriting, and promoting the culture of the Yellow River and it deeply explores the epochal value of the culture on the Yellow River. While telling the story of the Yellow River in an artistic way, it presents the multi-layered connotation and profound meaning of the culture of the Yellow River through a diversified visual art language.

Exhibition View of “The Endless Life—The Narrative of the Yellow River”

Throughout the ages, the Yellow River has always remained an important creative motif in the context of Chinese literature and art and many masterpieces have emerged. “The Endless Life—The Narrative of the Yellow River” is the first large-scale visual narrative on the theme of the Yellow River, which has groundbreaking significance for construction of the grand theme in contemporary art exhibitions. The exhibition showcases 172 works by 66 artists, covering various forms of artistic expression such as painting, sculpture, installation, video, folk art, photography, architecture, and design. In terms of curatorial methods, this exhibition penetrates the depth of historical times and space and compatible multi-dimensional forms. It coveys the academic philosophy and curatorial grammar of Fan Di’an, and it is a powerful practice under his theory of “Chinese curatorial studies.”

Exhibition View of “The Endless Life—The Narrative of the Yellow River”

The exhibition is composed of four chapters: “Eternal Rushing”, “Great River Spirit”, “Symbiosis Homeland”, and “Ecological Management” which jointly constitute a rich structure covering multiple dimensions such as history, spirit, life and ecology. Focusing on the magnificence and vicissitudes of the Yellow River through time and space with a historical perspective, it expresses the Chinese spirit of self-improvement and firmness within the cultural context of contemporary Chinese art; it explains the accumulated cultural heritage and regional cross-culturalism of the Yellow River basin at the level of multiple symbiosis; from the perspective of ecological civilization, it reflects contemporary issues of environmental protection, comprehensive management and sustainable development of the Yellow River Basin. Sonatas of ancient legends and contemporary movements are like the Yellow River's endless narrative.

Before the opening ceremony, President Fan Di'an accompanied Li Jinke, Director of the Publicity Department of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, to visit the exhibition

The group photo of honored guests: (from the left) Zhang Shaozhi, Director of Yinchuan Culture, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television Bureau, Zhang Zikang, Director of CAFA Art Museum, Li Hong, Member of the Standing Committee of the Yinchuan Municipal Party Committee and Director of Publicity Department, Fan Di’an, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Li Jinke, Member of the Standing Committee of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Party Committee and Director of Publicity Department, Artist Sun Jingbo, Liu Wenjin, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Ma Liyan, General Manager for Huaxia Hetu Regional Development and Operation Division, Beijing Enterprises Ningsheng City Investment Development Co., Ltd., Wang Fang,  Deputy Director of Yinchuan Culture Tourism, Radio and Television Bureau.

At 7:30 pm on September 27, 2020, the opening ceremony of “The Endless Life—The Narrative of the Yellow River” was grandly held in the outdoor space of the Museum. The guests attending the opening ceremony were Fan Di’an, Chairman of the China Artists Association and President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Zhang Zikang, Director of CAFA Art Museum, Wu Hongliang, Director of the Beijing Fine Art Academy and Vice Chairman of the Beijing Artists Association, and Li Feng, Director of the Beijing Minsheng Art Museum. The leaders of the Ningxia autonomous region and Yinchuan City who attended the opening ceremony were Lai Jiao, Vice Chairman of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Government, Liu Jun, Deputy Minister of the Publicity Department of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Party Committee, and Party Secretary of the Ningxia Department of Culture and Tourism, Zhang Quanzhi, Deputy Mayor of Yinchuan Municipal Government, and Hu Zhiping, Vice Director of Publicity Department of Yinchuan Municipal Party Committee, Liu Tao, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of Yinchuan Culture, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television Bureau, Zhang Shaozhi, Director of Yinchuan Culture, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television Bureau, Hao Chunming, Deputy Secretary of the Yongning County Party Committee, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the County People’s Government, and County Mayor, Sun Zhiqiang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Yinchuan Cultural Tourism Group, Wang Xuefeng, Chairman of Ningxia Artists Association, Liu Wenjin, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Lu Peng, Artistic Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, etc.

 Fan Di'an, Chairman of the China Artists Association, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Exhibition Curator, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony

Zhang Quanzhi, Deputy Mayor of Yinchuan Municipal People's Government, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony

Wu Hongliang, Director of Beijing Fine Art Academy and Vice Chairman of Beijing Artists Association, addressed to the opening ceremony

 Speech by Artist Representative Sun Jingbo

Group photo of guests at the opening ceremony

Opening performance

View of the Opening Ceremony

Fan Di'an mentioned in his opening speech: Since the founding of People’s Republic of China to the new era, the Yellow River has been an eternal theme in Chinese fine art creation. As the mother river of China, the Yellow River has a beautiful natural landscape. The Yellow River is rich in human history and it symbolizes the great national spirit. The Yellow River shows contemporary ecological construction. We are very familiar with the musical melody of the “Yellow River Cantata”, and in terms of visual art and art creation, the participating artists brought out their wonderful works and gathered them into large-scale visual historical facts about the Yellow River. President Fan believed that telling the story of the Yellow River in an artistic way, it is necessary to talk about the inheritance of the culture of the Yellow River and the innovation in the culture of the Yellow River today. In this exhibition, you cannot only see the spirit of artistic explorations, the vision and ideals of life from the works of senior artists, but also the thinking of young artists on important propositions of the new era such as the sustainable development of the Yellow River.

In the academic symposium before the opening of the exhibition, curator Fan Di’an, Lu Peng, Artistic Director of he Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Zhang Zikang, Director of CAFA Art Museum, Wu Hongliang, Director of Beijing Fine Art Academy, Li Feng, Director of Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, and representatives of many participating artists gathered to talk about contemporary art under the time-honored theme of “Yellow River.” They talked about “how Chinese contemporary art grasps Chinese own cultural theme” and "how the morphological language of Chinese contemporary art corresponds to the times.” On the basis of a high level of ideological and emotional resonance with the culture of the Yellow River, artists and scholars express their opinions of the time when ancient stories and contemporary stories collide, forming a dialogue with rich academic connotations.

View of the Forum on “Yellow River: The Narrative of Art”

Wu Hongliang, Director of Beijing Fine Art Academy and Vice Chairman of Beijing Artists Association

After the symposium, Fan Di’an, Lu Peng, artist representative Professor Sun Jingbo and young artist Gao Yang moved to the press conference of the exhibition. Fan Di’an shared the consensus reached in the exhibition from three aspects: the origin of the exhibition, the purpose of the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, and the curatorial concept of the exhibition. Professor Sun Jingbo fondly recalled the memories of sketching on the banks of the Yellow River 20 years ago, and was moved by the theme, structure and diversity of the exhibition. He believed that the exhibition was culturally oriented. The young artist Gao Yang felt that although everyone was telling the story of the Yellow River, they were actually telling the stories on the river of art. He hoped that his artistic creation could bring a whole new breath to the story of the Yellow River.

View of the Press Conference

Fan Di'an, Chairman of the China Artists Association and President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts

Artist Representative Sun Jingbo

Artist Representative Gao Yang

The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, where the exhibition is held, is located on the west bank of the Yellow River. Its design is inspired by the rock fold texture formed by the rich geological changes of the Yellow River over the millennia. The exhibition presents the historical context and era of the Yellow River from ancient times to the present. The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan promotes traditions, stimulates artistic innovation and promotes the construction of contemporary culture. It has made important contributions to the construction of the culture for the local people. Lu Peng, Artistic Director of the Museum, believes that “The Endless Life—The Narrative of the Yellow River” tries to present the vitality of the history and culture of the Yellow River through the richness and contemporary features of artistic language. The exhibition includes both the Ode to the Yellow River by adolescent artists in People’s Republic of China since 1949, as well as new interpretations by artists of different generations today. The theme of the Yellow River is given a contemporary narrative in terms of artistic language and artistic style, showing the symbol of Chinese civilization as well as the continuous inheritance and vigorous continuation of the Yellow River spirit.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan

Interior of The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan

This exhibition is the first art exhibition in western China since China has achieved a strategic victory in the fight against the pandemic. It has strong realistic humanistic care. It is also the first time that the historical context of the Yellow River has been traced in the form of a large-scale exhibition. The perspective of exploring the significance of the Yellow River culture constitutes a dialogue about the history and contemporary aspects of the Yellow River, and the mixture of reality and spirit. The exhibition uses the full volume of works, rich artistic language, broad cultural vision and deep academic thinking, thus presenting a visual feast of the Yellow River story to the audience.

It is reported that the exhibition will remain on view till January 31, 2021.

Text by Zhu Li, translated and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO

Photo Courtesy of the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan

About the exhibition

“The Endless Life—The Narrative of the Yellow River” 

Hosted by The Municipal People’s Government of Yinchuan, The Department of Culture and Tourism of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

Organized by The Administration of Culture, Tourism, Radio and Television of Yinchuan

Executed by The Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan

Exhibition Location: Hall 1/2/5/6 and the Public Space, the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan

Curator: Fan Di'an

Executive curators: Ji Yujie, Jia Yunbo, Li Keke

Artists: Ding Yilin, waa|we architech anonymous, Udopartners Architects + Saussure Architects, ECA2&Tengyuan Design, Yu Tianyi, Wang Keju, Wang Hui, Wang Qian, Wang Fenghua, Wang Shengli, Wang Zhiou + Qiu Zhijie, Ma Jiawei, Bian Kai, Lyu Shengzhong, Sun Jingbo, Sun Liren, Sun Bo, Zhu Jin, Liu Shiming, Liu Jieqiong, Liu Hui, Liu Junli, Liu Haigang, Liu Yan, Liu Mingxin, Guan Jian, Qiao Xiaoguang, Duoxiang Studio, Ren Rong, Zhang Lujiang, Zhang Jian, Zhang Kechun, Zhang Ziqian, Li Qiang, Li Xiaochun, Wang Tianwen, Xing Gang, Xing Qingren, He Lihong, Folding Art Group, Tang Nannan, Wu Jianan, Du Jian, Zhou Shaohua, Zhou Junhua, Yang Xianrang, Yang Lizhou + Wang Yingchun, Fan Di'an, Wu Bo, Qiu Zhijie, Chen Weiguo, Hu Wei, Hu Mingzhe, Duan Zhengqu, Zhong Han, Gao Yang+Jin Songhui, Gao Fenglian, Yuanyuan Construction, Luan Bo Landscape Studio, Sui Jianguo, Huang Peiying, Ge Man, Bao Ying, Jin Zhilin, Liang Jianping, Wei Ying (*Sorted by strokes of surnames )