From January 14th to January 15th, the 5th "International Public Art Award", the Award Ceremony of the International Solicitation of Public Art Schemes in Qingdao West Coast New Area, China and the Series of Activities of the International Public Art Forum were held in Qingdao West Coast New Area.
Awards Ceremony
This event aims to use the "International Public Art Award" platform to disseminate the value concept of public art, focus on the theme of "local remodeling", invite experts and scholars in the field of public art at home and abroad to discuss and exchange in a combination of online and offline methods, learn from and absorb global successful experience, improve the quality of urban public space, and explore an innovative practice path for urban public art construction in new districts.
"The world is accelerating change. Human culture, including public art, is an important part of this process. Through the contributions of these public artists, we may be able to interpret the concerns of humanity in the process of globalization. Louis Biggs, president of the International Association of Public Art (IPA), noted in his speech.
90 cases were submitted, covering a variety of genres
At the fifth edition of the International Public Art Awards, Louis Biggs said: "The ability of works of art to innovate and reshape people's perceptions of social and environmental conditions and their commercial, economic and contribution to society is still vastly undervalued. It is reassuring to note that this year's winning cases are well deserved and aim to raise awareness of pandemics, climate change, human-created environmental challenges and human injustices. ”
The award ceremony reviewed the overview of the International Public Art Awards in the form of a video and the 90 entries selected for this year's International Public Art Awards, including 9 in Oceania, 19 in East Asia, 21 in Latin America, 18 in North America, 9 in West, Central and South Asia, 3 in Africa, and 11 in Eurasia, covering installations, architecture, sculptures, murals, performance performances, activities and other types.
Rael Saint-Freité Artists' Group's "Seesaw Wall" is the winner of this year's Public Art Awards in North America, and it is also the winner of this award. The installation is placed on the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas. Seesaw Wall is a project that aims to engage in the socio-political field in a playful way. In 2018, as children were forced to separate from their parents near the U.S.-Mexico border, it felt it was time to build a bridge on both sides of the border rather than continue to perpetuate the separation. The Rael San Fredero Studio, which has been on a local expedition for a decade, completed the project in 2019, designing seesaws that can pass through gaps in the border fence and can be quickly fixed when lowered. At the time of the installation, most of the people who came to the site were women and children, but this also gave special significance to the installation and the event.
Seesaw Wall
The winning case in West, Central and South Asia is the installation work "Roy" placed by the artist Asim Waziv in Kolkata, India. Loy is a temporary shed for the Goddess Of Durga Festival commissioned by the Amrrah Sabai Club in Kolkata in 2019 (used to enshrine the Hindu goddess Durga during a two-week festival celebration). The work is a installation of bamboo, rattan, cloth and rope incorporated into an interactive electronic and sound system, built on a street and open to all. Cross-training of multiple crafts was set up during the construction of the project, allowing participants to be exposed to different processes and models. In addition, plants such as rice, vegetables, lotuses, mushrooms and bananas, as well as ponds and fish, are introduced into the installation space, creating a complex ecosystem that incorporates the living experiences of artists, bamboo and rattan weavers, as well as members of local residents' associations and visitors to the shed, as the result of joint cooperation between the fields of art, architecture, craftsmanship, horticulture and science and technology.
"Roy"
The african winner is artist Arturo Vittori's "Valka Water Tower", placed in the Dolzi community in the Gamogofa region of southern Ethiopia. The water tower is built from natural, biodegradable, 100% recyclable materials. The design team examined the local culture, incorporating traditional basket weaving techniques and vernacular architectural elements into the design. The water tower is a modular prefabricated system that can be installed by six people in a day, costs ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, and is built and maintained by the community. The design goal is to "squeeze water out of thin air" and collect water from the atmosphere (rain, fog, dew) to provide alternative sources of water for rural dwellers who have difficulty accessing drinking water. It adopts an unplugged energy-free structure, relies solely on natural phenomena such as gravity, condensation and evaporation to operate, is easy to maintain, and can be operated by villagers independently. In addition to providing 50 to 100 litres of drinking water per day, the Purpose of the Valka Water Tower also aims to create a social place for the community and to promote the development of the local economy through personnel training, construction and manufacturing, monitoring, water resources management and maintenance, agricultural practices, handicraft making and traditional medicine. Through this program, Valka Watter hopes to train villagers in good practice in the use, distribution and regeneration of water resources and learn more about the relationship between humans and the environment.
"Valka Water Tower"
The Eurasian award is the work of artists Majetica Portridge and OOZE International Design Firm, Water and Earth: The King's Cross Pond Club, placed in the King's Cross Development Area in London, England, as a natural bath-style art installation. The water source of the bath installation is purified by a natural process, and the natural filtration is enhanced by the mineralization of plants, nutrients and a set of filters, and the purified water is circulated to the pond to complete the cycle. The number of people bathing per day is limited by the amount of purified water in the system. Water and Soil is a living laboratory of the urban outdoor environment, which reveals nature's ability to self-heal while guiding visitors to experience first-hand the relationship and responsibility between man and nature.
Water and Earth: Kings Cross Pond Club
The Latin American region won the project "Potosí Community Cinema" by an extended architectural team, located in the Potosí community of Bogotá Bolivar, Colombia. Potosí is an informal settlement built in the 1980s at the junction of urban and rural areas in Bogotá, Colombia, with no access to water and electricity, a lack of cultural buildings or activities, and no public space reserved for residents. The Southern Hills Institute (ICES), a local community-based organization with experience in audiovisual production, has launched an autonomous cultural initiative that includes a film festival, an audiovisual school, a radio station, etc. The film school and film festival called "Ojo al Sancocho" have been held for more than a decade. ICES worked with the Extended Building team to transform an abandoned building within the community into a community cinema, creating a purpose-specific variable public space for the community that is managed by the community itself. As an urban landmark facility, in addition to being a spatial art work, the cinema also assumes the role of a lighthouse in the community in a sense, which is a poetic symbol.
Potosí Community Cinema
The winner of The East and Southeast Asia region is New Games, New Connections, New Normal. The project is a group of public art projects curated by the "1,000 Arts 1,000 Schemes" public art company in the vacant spaces under the highway bridges in Yusui, Hannam and Emmun districts of Seoul, South Korea. "LeisureLy Yushui" near Yushui Subway Station is a public seating device created by "Junk House", which not only maintains safe social distancing, but also creates a public space for people to relax. A Little More Movement is created by Jerry Zhang and Cernan. The project lasts for 6 months and consists of 51 wooden modules that change their position in the square every 40 days, constantly creating a sense of freshness and attracting local citizens to stroll around. People can also scan the QR code to enjoy the performance and sound artists Yin Haizhou and Bai Lihong's dance video "Mirage Under the Bridge". The dance moves shown in the video encourage people to move their bodies with "Leisurely Jade Water" and "A Little More Exercise". Since the outbreak of COVID-19, most people have faced restrictions on going out while also under psychological pressure. The project re-evaluates the value of outdoor activities and draws local citizens to the square for rest and activity through works of art. The work explores alternatives to public art in extraordinary times and proposes new directions for how art can function in the present.
New Games, New Connections, New Normal: A Leisurely Jade Water District
New Games, New Connections, New Normal: A Little More Exercise
Wang Dawei, Chairman of the Fifth Jury, Vice Chairman and Founder of the International Public Art Association, and Dean of the International Institute of Public Art of Shanghai University, introduced the basic situation and selection process of the International Public Art Award at the award ceremony. He pointed out that "the purpose of the International Public Art Award is to disseminate the core values of public art as the goal, through the study of excellent cases from all over the world, to reveal the international successful experience of public art in improving the public environment, improving the quality of life, improving cultural and artistic standards, promoting social and cultural development, etc., and empowering the host site." Wang Dawei believes that the concept of local remodeling is an important value of public art, which promotes cultural development in the form of art, serves urban construction, solves social problems, and has positive significance and important value for the reshaping and upgrading of local spiritual life and cultural connotation.
Give play to the "public nature" of art and reshape local life
In the International Public Art Forum, Pan Lusheng, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, president of the China Folk Writers Association, and president of the Shandong Academy of Arts and Crafts, Dong Huafeng, director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Qingdao West Coast New Area, and Mark VanderSchaaf, former chairman of the regional and intergovernmental planning departments of the American Planning Association, respectively focused on "Public Art Development Strategies in the Construction of Public Cultural Service System", "The Role of Public Art in Urban Development under the Background of the New Era", "Space, Place and'" 'Remodeling the Place': Perspectives from recent research by the American Planning Association" delivered a keynote speech.
Pan Lusheng discussed the development strategy of public art in the construction of China's public cultural service system. He believes that public art is not only a way to express life, but also a way to change life. Giving full play to the "public nature" of art helps to promote the interaction and integration between art and nature, city, countryside, community and public. In the new era, public art should be fully integrated into the planning and construction of the public cultural service system, strengthen the four adherences, increase publicity, education and popularization, encourage diversified participation, pay attention to extensive sharing, and gradually achieve urban and rural overall planning and regional coordination, achieve high-quality diversification, and play a greater role in effectively ensuring cultural and people's livelihood, helping economic development, and promoting social fairness.
During the two-day forum, a total of 7 international public art sub-forums were held, and more than 30 experts, scholars and artists from 7 regions around the world formed symposiums in 7 different regions to share online. More than 20 guests who came to the scene conducted in-depth discussions and exchanges on public art services for urban development and cultural construction, public art participation in urban organic renewal, public art empowerment for rural revitalization, practical experience of public art and the construction of public art operation mechanism, etc., and jointly discussed issues related to the development of public art and new concepts.
As an international award in the field of public art initiated by Shanghai University, the "International Public Art Award" series of awards has been held for ten years. As a symbol of the highest achievements in the field of international public art, the "International Public Art Award" (IAPA) was launched in 2011 by Public Art (China) Magazine in cooperation with public Art Review magazine in the United States, aiming to provide examples of public art construction for cities under development in various regions of the world, lead the trend of public art, strengthen the inheritance and development of urban regional culture, improve the urban living environment, and enhance the quality of life of citizens. As the continuous theme of the International Public Art Award, "Local Remodeling" highlights the positive role and important value of public art in alleviating social contradictions and solving public problems in artistic language and methods, and indicates the future development direction of the public art field.
The event was co-sponsored by the International Public Art Association (IPA), the International Institute of Public Art of Shanghai University, the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts of Shanghai University, and the Shandong Academy of Arts and Crafts, the Administrative Committee of Qingdao West Coast New Area, the Public Art Research Institute of Shandong Academy of Arts and Crafts, the Qingdao Base of Shandong Academy of Arts and Crafts, and the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Qingdao West Coast New Area and the Federation of Literary and Art Circles of Qingdao West Coast New Area.