Jiang Jiehong shows pictures of artworks for the theme exhibition. 

Jiang Jiehong, curator of 4th Guangzhou Triennial  

Jonathan Watkins, curator of the 11th Sydney Biennale and director of IKON Gallery, is the other curator of “the Unseen” exhibition
Susan Philipsz won 2010 British Turner Prize with her sound device called “Far Lowlands”

The 4th Guangzhou Triennial is a project lasts for three years. In September last year, the inauguration exhibition entitled “Meta—Question back to the museum per se” was unveiled in Guangdong Museum of Art, followed by a series of project exhibitions. As the final stop of the triennial, a theme exhibition named “the Unseen” will be held from September 28th to December 16th this year, showcasing artworks of some 80 artists from 30 different countries and regions.

On March 13th, Luo Yiping, director of Guangdong Museum of Art, two curators of the theme exhibition, Jiang Jiehong and Jonathan Watkins, and artist Susan Philipsz, who was awarded the annual British Turner Prize with her sound device called “Far Lowlands” in 2010, held the news conference in Guangdong Museum of Art, presenting their artistic ideas for this theme exhibition.  

Though the two curators come from the East and West respectively, they work side by side. “We select the artists and artworks together. In other words, we do not work in an ‘east and west’ manner.” Jiang said. He believed “the Unseen” may be the best exhibition in China in 2012. Although the list of artists has not been set yet, some big names, which have been confirmed, have already made a stir.

A Practice-led Approach

Before his arrival in Guangzhou, Jiang gave a lecture on Vision-led: Contemporary Art Practice before Theory in Nanjing Arts Institute. And he shared his ideas about curating with the students and reporters. “I am not a professional in curating, but it has become my research recently. Then I find out that, what annoy me most are those curatorial methods. In my opinion, a predefined theory restricts art. It is a trap. Artists should always focus on creation and vision effect. Their works should be their demonstrations.”
Therefore, the five key words in this exhibition, namely Unseen Object, Unseen Event, Unseen Faith, Unseen Realm, and Unseen Change are not for the sake of division. They are dimensions of thinking. They are not theories imposed on artists from curators, but understandings built on the artistic practice.

Another curator Jonathan Watkins said, “In China most of the exhibitions are theme-led. A defined theme does help to conclude some common features of participating artists. However, that erases the uniqueness of artworks.” In contrast a practice-led approach frees artists from predefined theories and thus emancipates the imagination.

Contemporary is not about Time

Jiang Jiehong’s explanation on Contemporary Art refreshed reporters in the news conference. “I ran into two important problems during the curatorial process, one was contemporary and the other was art. What is contemporary and art? Contemporary is not a word for times. In fact, there were contemporary art and contemporary artists in Qing Dynasty.” He showed a photo shot in Guangzhou in 1860. “It is a work by the Italian photographer Felice Beato. And it is the earliest view of Guangzhou that has been recorded through a camera.” This precious work would become part of the exhibition, alongside with some artworks date back to 17th and 19th centuries.

The director of Guangdong Museum of Art, chief curator of the 4th Guangzhou Triennial, Luo Yiping pointed out, “Arts in 17th century could be called contemporary art. Their contemporary attributes will be unveiled in ‘the Unseen’.”

Bring Art back to Life

Another question interested Jiang is “what’s art”. “Art comes from life. It helps to extend life.” In April a public art plan will be held in Birmingham, in which the concept of “to see the Unseen” will be printed on 100 billboards, reflecting their determination of bringing art back to life. “If we start from the art practice, we will discover a truth, that is, art itself gains no essential difference compared with other things in life. Our view of art is actually our way of thinking.” Jonathan, another curator, said. He hoped this exhibition would help to excavate our imagination in life and see things in a way we have never applied before.

Limitation of Our Vision

The Unseen, theme of this exhibition, has been taking shape in the early 2009. As curators illustrated, “the Unseen” refers to the limitations of our sensory organs, the narrow confines of human perception on the one hand; on the other, paradoxically, it gives rise to observations that transcend familiar experience.

What is “the Unseen”? Due to limited visual acuity people cannot see things tiny in size. Therefore some art pieces require a magnifier in the exhibition. "Those huge things, such as wind, electricity… cannot be seen either. We will have a work with horizontal branches stretch outside the window in the exhibition. As the wind blows, the branches sway and leave traces on the white paper-through this way 'the unseen' wind is transformed into a visible work."

Sound belongs to the Unseen too. Susan Philipsz, the renowned sound artist, held her personal exhibition in Beijing last week before arriving at Guangzhou. She said, “When I arrive at a new place, I like experiencing its atmosphere, its sound, its construction style, and its history. My work for this triennial has not been decided yet; first I want to explore this city."

The theme has excited the artist. Getting into the art world as a sculpture artist, Susan Philipsz soon found her own way. “Defining architecture through sound and the relationship between sound and music interested me. So I started to work on sound installation. People would be surprised by sounds in a public space. As they pay attention to those sounds, they could find a new way to redefine themselves.”

“If a curator proposes an idea in an exhibition and spectators fail to gain new experience, this exhibition is uncreative.” Jonathan expressed his understanding of curating. “One of the most important issues for curators is to amuse spectators. Let them discover something funny in an exhibition and make them believe that those presented in the exhibition hall are important.”
Time: March 18th, 2012   Source: Information Times