Cultural imagination in the garden Exhibition “Sparkling Garden – Guan Huai Bin Works” opens at MAM
Organized by the Macao Museum of Art (MAM) of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), the exhibition “Sparkling Garden – Guan Huai Bin Works” opens on 1 November, at the special exhibition room on the 3rd floor of the MAM.
The opening ceremony was officiated by the Acting Vice President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Lei Lai Kio; the Assistant of the Department of Publicity and Culture of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao S.A.R., Diao Peng; the Vice-Director of Department of Fine Art of Beijing Film Academy, Liu Xuguang; the Curatorial Director of the Hanart TZ Gallery, Chang Tsong-zung; the Head of the Experimental Art Department of the School of Intermedia Art of the China Academy of Art, Gao Shiqiang; the President of the Macau Artist Society, Lok Hei; and the artist, Guan Huaibin.
During the opening ceremony, the Director of the Macao Museum of Art, Chan Kai Chon said in his speech that the works of this exhibition are the meticulous works of Guan Huaibin, who is famous for installation art and space multimedia art. He focuses on the experimental exploration for the presentation of multimedia art in the process of creation, and he also has a deep theoretical thought in artistic practice.
This exhibition features 7 installations and 9 videos, in a total of 16 works, created between 2011 and 2018 by contemporary Chinese artist Guan Huaibin. Guan Huaibin excels in deconstructing and absorbing traditional cultural elements and modes of perception into his own language system and creative structure of his works. Having ‘garden’ as the main axis, the artist created the ‘garden’ according to the exhibition space, offering the public a comprehensive experience of new media arts and deepening a collision of ideas. Both the installations that make up the space and the moving images are interconnected and both serve as clues for the audience to “decode” the exhibition’s theme and symbols, making up an ambiance of a “garden”. Through the intersection of visual and perceptual elements, the artist offers the public a contextual cultural visualization.
Guan Huaibin is currently the president at the School of Intermedia Art of the China Academy of Art. He believes that art is a process of observing the self, perceiving and questioning the world. “Garden” is an important way of spatial construction in Chinese traditional culture. Guan Huaibin has made pioneering contributions to the creation and research of contemporary art space within Chinese gardens aesthetics, directly or indirectly using garden elements in numerous of his works, perhaps related to his own life experience. Guan Huaibin, hailing from Jiangsu, has always had memories of gardens as a creative source. The exhibition “Sparkling Garden” does not interpret the spatial setting of the traditional garden concept, but rather the integration of Chinese classical garden aesthetics into the shape of its spatial arrangement, being both the art of space and art of time. His works include “No One Sector”, a series of photographs of the top of thousands of buildings taken by Guan Huaibin in the last five to six years, offering an alternative visual experience.
The exhibition “Sparkling Garden – Guan Huai Bin Works” runs until 24 February 2019, and the population is hereby invited to visit the same. During the exhibition period, the public may take part in the guided tours organized by MAM and thereby get to know in more depth the works on display. In addition, MAM will also hold activities for children and the whole family; for more information please visit the MAM website at www.MAM.gov.mo. The MAM, located at Av. Xian Xing Hai, NAPE, offers free admission daily from 10am to 7pm, including public holidays (no admission after 6:30pm) and closes on Mondays.
