The exhibition is a system, from determining the theme to visiting the artist, selecting the work, then the transportation of the work, determining the exhibition method, the layout and creation of the space, and then to the opening and academic seminars, any link is inseparable from the control of the curator. The epidemic is making their work full of variables, and "air curation" on the cloud has almost become the norm.
Online communication provides a basic medium for air curation, but curators need to have a more intuitive experience and research of artists, works, spaces, etc., in order to present an excellent exhibition. How to make "air curation" possible through the adaptation of technical means or research methods? It is an important issue facing the curators in contemporary times.
We interviewed five curators, some of whom completed large-scale exhibitions across borders through "double teams", some of whom supplemented through more in-depth copywriting research and virtual imagination, some of whom pre-positioned a lot of work through risk prediction, some of whom completed exhibitions and works filmed locally through three-dimensional drawings and frequent video conferences, and some of whom responded to uncertainty through curatorial decentralization and negotiated exhibition arrangement.
Proceeding from their respective curatorial practices, they provide concrete and vivid experience for the abstract proposition of air curating. Their stories may not lack helplessness and regrets, but they still reflect the resilience and wisdom of the curators, and in the current epidemic situation, they have creatively enriched the concepts and methods of curation. As a result, we are fortunate enough to experience the freedom and creativity of art, even if we are blocked by space.
Zhang Zikang: An efficient and professional team is crucial
If there is any thing that has the greatest impact in the present, it is undoubtedly the epidemic and the war, one is related to our current life, and the other is related to our future. These two events have put the world in a state of turmoil today, and it is a coincidence that the Chinese Pavilion of the Venice Biennale has caught up with both events.
For example, it's like it's already cold on a snowy day, and you have to add a layer of frost to it.
The scene of the 59th Venice International Art Biennale China Pavilion "Yuanjing"
Photo shoot: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
The Chinese Pavilion of this Venice Biennale is curated by Zhang Zikang and Sun Dongdong as assistant curator, in terms of exhibition planning, assistant curator Sun Dongdong is exhibiting in Venice, and curator Zhang Zikang has stayed in China due to the epidemic, so the exhibition is divided into two teams.
In this curatorial exhibition, due to the uncertainties brought about by the epidemic and the war at the same time, punctual and safe transportation has become the biggest challenge of the exhibition, the price of international transportation has changed day by day, and the epidemic policy is also changing. For example, the outdoor work "Snowman" by artist Wang Yuyang, the material of the steel frame structure was originally planned to be made in China and then shipped to Italy, but in the end it could only be made in Italy, so it brought a lot of production troubles, fortunately, this work has become one of the highlights of this year's Chinese Pavilion.
Wang Yuyang's sculpture "Snowman" is exhibited in the Greenland Garden exhibition area
Photo shoot: Wang Jingyun Unauthorized, do not use
Assistant curator Sun Dongdong said: "Although the whole space construction of this exhibition looks very simple, we have done very complicated work behind it. ”
So how did such a transnational curatorial work unfold?
Zhang Zikang introduced that a lot of work has been done before applying for the planning plan of the Chinese Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, as a curator, first of all, we must understand the space of the Chinese Pavilion very well, if we do not understand enough, the plan may be problematic. Therefore, Zhang Zikang and Sun Dongdong made detailed plans for the space of the Chinese Pavilion, such as the position, size, and even lighting settings of the works in the space.
On the other hand, Italy will also evaluate the exhibition plan, because the exhibition venue is a cultural relic, and the exhibition cannot be damaged when the exhibition is set up, so the Italian side will evaluate the exhibition plan to see if it will affect the building.
These two reasons prompted the curatorial team to be very familiar with the layout of the exhibition space during the exhibition planning stage.
Therefore, although he did not go to the scene, Zhang Zikang was still relatively relieved about the progress of the exhibition, thanks to the coordination of assistant curator Sun Dongdong at the exhibition site. Zhang Zikang will maintain close contact with the on-site exhibition team, and when there is a deviation in the details during the exhibition, everyone will communicate and confirm through pictures and videos.
Xu Lei's "Correspondances" exhibition site
Photo shoot: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
"Wang Yuyang#: Quarter (Solar Terms)" and
Liu Jiayu's work "Virtual Pole Quiet Du" was exhibited at the scene
Photo shoot: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
It is precisely in this way that Zhang Zikang said that the efficient and professional team of this curatorial exhibition is very important.
In Zhang Zikang's view, the experience of curators is crucial, and the biggest challenge for countermeasures exhibitors is the judgment of experience, which will be very demanding. Because on the basis of extensive experience, through the language descriptions, pictures and video presentations of the people on site, the curator can make the same professional and correct judgment as if he were in the field.
At the same time, in the planning of this exhibition, Zhang Zikang also found some new trends in curating, such as the development of science and technology on the one hand to provide convenience for the exhibition, on the other hand, it is also changing the curator's understanding of exhibition and space. Especially in the cognitive system of space, there will be a very big change, for example, in the current exhibition planning, it is necessary to consider the relationship between light and space, the relationship with the work, and how to combine the virtual and the real, these new changes prompt the curator to consider, what new possibilities will be brought by the exhibition? And how to let the audience experience something different in the space?
In addition, in the creation and display of artists, they have become more and more grouped and team-oriented, which is both a domestic trend and an international trend, why does this phenomenon occur?
Stemming from the fact that the classification of disciplines is becoming more and more detailed, in the end, cross-professional collaboration is needed, such as many creations now, which need to cooperate with other disciplines such as science and technology, psychology and other disciplines, and the formation of new creations across disciplines has increasingly become a trend of the moment, so whether it is the presentation of exhibitions or planning, it is necessary to establish the ability and concept of comprehensive thinking.
The 59th Venice International Art Biennale China Pavilion "Yuanjing" scene Photo: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
AT Art Group "Jungle" Exhibition Scene Photo: Yan Jing Do not use without authorization
Of course, the academic nature of the exhibition is also very important, the curator should think about the exhibition from a deep level, specific to the planning of this exhibition, Zhang Zikang said: "The Chinese Pavilion has its own cultural tradition in the planning theme. In the changes in today's world, China has its own development, especially the development of art has its own characteristics, for example, China has been in the process of modernization in recent years. When we talk about the modernity of Chinese art, starting from Xu Beihong, the reference to 'modernity' is completely different from international modernism, and it has its own system, because China has its own cultural context, and it is necessary to consider the problem from the perspective of Chinese culture. ”
Therefore, from the perspective of "the best representative of Chinese art in the past two years", he selected the four artists/groups participating in this exhibition. From the artists of the 90s to the artists of the 60s, the span is very large, and they have different imaginations and their own unique understandings of the present, which is also a highlight of the value of Chinese contemporary art.
Hu Bin: Controlling space is the biggest challenge
At the end of last year, Hu Bin was entrusted by Yu Ke, executive director of The Yuelai Art Museum, as the curator of the Kurosawa Akira Exhibition, and after accepting this work, he began the preliminary work of the exhibition. First of all, I went to see the original work, promoted the electronic image system for the work, and found someone to translate the Japanese catalog of the work. Then, Hu Bin searched for and read a large number of research materials of Akira Kurosawa, such as downloading research books and articles related to Akira Kurosawa from the Internet, and reading dozens of works on Akira Kurosawa, on the basis of which he had a more detailed understanding of Akira Kurosawa. In addition, I also watched Akira Kurosawa's films, especially the six films involved in the exhibition, and looked for the correspondence between painting and film, thus forming the concept of exhibition planning.
The initial scale of the exhibition is to select more than 500 pieces from more than 2,000 works, because the size of the works is generally similar, viewing in the exhibition hall, the visual experience is basically the same, so how to construct the narrative logic of the exhibition? Presenting the relationship between the work and the film? And more importantly, how to construct the exhibition space? It has become an important question for Hu Bin to ponder. In terms of planning, each film Hu Bin will refine the core, and then correspond to the corresponding paintings of Akira Kurosawa, so that the exhibition will form an undulating change in narrative and vision.
However, during the landing stage of the exhibition, the outbreak of the epidemic in Guangzhou disrupted Hu Bin's work plan, and all work could only be transferred online. Initially, Hu Bin and the art museum team studied the floor plan of the art museum exhibition hall and made the work distribution drawings accordingly, wanting to set up the exhibition in this way, but later found that this method was not suitable, because the number of works in the exhibition was huge, and the visual relationship between the works and the works needed to be continuously adjusted according to the scene to achieve a harmonious state.
Therefore, instead of using the video connection method, the museum staff explained the space on the spot, and Hu Bin followed the video lens to familiarize himself with the space, in the process he found that the exhibition space of the Yuelai Art Museum was an arc, and the structure of the exhibition was set according to the characteristics of the space.
In the midst of the storm, an old grandmother struggled with a blown umbrella, and the audience who had seen Akira Kurosawa's movie "Rhapsody in August" would still remember this picture, and those who had not seen the movie would also be deeply shocked by this scene. On the exhibition moving line, Hu Bin believes that this scene is very shocking, but also can arouse the emotional resonance of the audience, suitable as the beginning of the exhibition, to guide the audience into the world of Akira Kurosawa.
Movie stills
"Witness of the Sea" Snow Dam 255× 360mm high-quality paper pencils, watercolors, water-based felt pens
In his vision, because the film tells the story of the "nuclear explosion", the grandmother's husband is a primary school teacher, and after the nuclear explosion, the school only has a twisted twisted steel pipe, so Hu Bin suggested setting up a "steel pipe" device on the spot, which can cause people to think about the disaster caused by the nuclear explosion.
In the next exhibition hall, "The Witness of the Sea" is presented, and the film shows the group of prostitutes, so in the presentation, Hu Bin highlights the themes such as the costumes and hairstyles of the characters in the paintings. This is followed by an open exhibition hall, presenting "Shadow Warrior", highlighting the stable concept of the protagonist in the film, as well as the relationship between the protagonist and the stand-in.
Then there is the movie "Sunset Love", which tells the story of a retired old professor and lover, no matter what he experiences, such as war and various upheavals, he always deals with the situation of not being alarmed, indifferent to the world, and being loved by students. Hu Bin hopes to present this kind of indifference, especially the feeling of the four seasons changing in the movie and people not moving, Kurosawa's paintings also present a lot of pictures of the changes of the four seasons, and the audience can correspond to the film clips and pictures when watching.
Dream Raven Orville Landscape 314× 406mm Drawing Paper Pencil, Watercolor, Crayon, Colored Pencil
Teacher's Home Genkan Bookstore 312× 406mm Drawing Paper, Pencil, Watercolor, Crayon
Then, the movie "Dream" set up a total of eight dreams, each dream chooses one of the core pictures, such as the fox team, peach blossom dolls, Mt. Fuji volcanic eruption, Van Gogh pictures of crows, etc., while comparing these fragments with the painting. The exhibition ends with "Chaos", which tells the story between a king and three sons, and is a very tragic film, in which Hu Bin hopes to edit the shot of the old king coming out of the burning city tower and going crazy, which is the climax of the film, corresponding to the painting.
During the installation of the exhibition, Hu Bin has always thought that the guangzhou epidemic is good to go to the scene, but this wish has never been a trip, fortunately, the exhibition has experienced senior curator Yu Ke and the professional art museum team, they have done a lot of work, there is no obstacle to communication, and the art museum team has made some new arrangements according to the actual situation, especially adding some elaborate videos, including the overall film and painting introduction, some film clips and painting comparative analysis, and inviting artists to read Kurosawa Akira. In addition, it also extracts Akira Kurosawa's memories or individual wonderful sentences from the film, making it easier for the audience to enter Akira Kurosawa's world.
Jiro's Army Formation 277×358mm High Quality Paper Pencil, Watercolor, Crayon, Water-based Felt Pen
Shadow Warrior Suwa Castle East Gate Order Cavalry Gallop 270×357mm High quality paper pencils, watercolors, crayons, water-based felt pens
It is also based on this that Hu Bin believes that the biggest challenge for exhibitors in the "air curation" countermeasures is the grasp of space, usually planning an exhibition, curators need to view the space and the artist's original works in detail, and form an exhibition framework on this basis. The epidemic has caused great problems in this step of work, and sometimes there will be more extreme situations, the scene and works can not be seen, all the work is carried out online, so this exhibition, Hu Bin feels that he is still relatively lucky, at least saw the original work.
Therefore, the advice given by Hu Bin is: before the exhibition, we must do a good job of exhibition drawings, and the floor plan and elevation drawing should be as detailed as possible; the curator must have the ability to grasp the space, and also need to have a virtual imagination and very rich curatorial experience.
It is also because of this situation that Hu Bin's current curation has become very cautious, and the off-site exhibition is rarely planned; the epidemic has also made him constantly think about what the meaning of the current exhibition is, and in the future, he will spend a lot of time on text research.
He Guiyan: Not being able to set up the exhibition on the spot will leave some regrets
From determining the theme of the exhibition, inviting artists to transportation, insurance, etc., from the perspective of the curatorial process, He Guiyan believes that "air curation" is not much different from usual, and there are four links that are more affected: visiting artists, on-site exhibition, academic seminars and opening.
"From the lacquer"
He said that when planning an exhibition, when determining the works to be exhibited with the artists, the curators must visit the artists and see the original works, and the epidemic makes this action full of uncertainty; the same is true for the installation of exhibitions, especially the contemporary art exhibitions, the relationship between the works and the space, the setting of the viewing route and the creation of the overall atmosphere of the exhibition, etc., all of which require the curators to go to the exhibition site for adjustment and arrangement, and the epidemic has brought great trouble to this work.
Relatively speaking, the opening ceremony of the exhibition and the academic seminar can be carried out online and have gradually become the norm during the epidemic, but this will bring about a bigger problem, that is, the lack of overall experience of the exhibition, as well as the interaction between each other, which is the most important.
In April, He Guiyan curated the "Starting from Lacquer" exhibition at the Fujian TCCA Red Top Contemporary Art Center, an exhibition that brought together nearly 30 artists during a sudden outbreak in Both Chongqing and Xiamen.
"From the lacquer"
However, in the planning of the exhibition, He Guiyan already has a prejudgment and will take into account the factors of the epidemic, so when communicating with the artist to determine the work, the size, material, transportation, etc. of the work are done very carefully to ensure that the work is not a problem during the later installation; and before the exhibition, according to the size of the work and the spatial relationship modeling of the exhibition site, the 3D exhibition site renderings are made to cope with possible crises.
After the epidemic was better, He Guiyan still went to the scene once. After that, the installation and adjustment of the exhibition are communicated and coordinated with the institutional team in the form of video conferencing.
For He Guiyan, under the epidemic situation of "air curation", the biggest challenge for countermeasure exhibitors is how to create the feeling and experience of the exhibition site, especially how to let the audience have a different and novel exhibition experience, can not go to the scene to set up the exhibition, more or less will leave some regrets.
For the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum, due to the epidemic need to adjust the opening and closing time, so the exhibition schedule will be greatly affected, as the curator, He Guiyan said that in the case of limited exhibition time and space, will give priority to the academic, representative, most worthwhile exhibition; at the same time, according to the characteristics of the epidemic, increase the exhibition online video tour and live broadcast, of course, Chuanmei Art Museum is also doing virtual art museum and digital exhibition hall, through new technologies, the exhibition will be disseminated, Allows the audience to watch freely.
Li Zhenhua: "Air curation" makes communication closer and cooperation more transparent
"The epidemic has complicated the planning of the exhibition, and the process is full of waves."
At the end of last year, curator Li Zhenhua served as the curator of artist Daniel Knorr-Bremse's large solo exhibition "Materialization" at the Pingshan Art Museum in Shenzhen, and he had booked two tickets to Shenzhen, but due to the epidemic, the flight was cancelled before departure, and the artist could not get a visa.
Artist Daniel Knorr and curator Lee Chun-wah watch and participate in the opening via live connection (*Virtual Background)
Every time Li Zhenhua uses the space, he will consider the links between the works and the audience in the space. On the one hand, the narrative nature of the work, on the other hand, is the characteristics of human movement in space, how can it be combined into an organic whole. At the beginning of the planning of this exhibition, he has been thinking about Chinese contemporary art and how to express it in the clues of contemporary art in the world. Previously, There was Roman Signer's solo exhibition planned to tour the major art galleries, and now there is daniel Knorr's start at the Pingshan Art Museum. This is also thanks to a series of books he recently listened to, "Global History from China" curated by Ge Zhaoguang and Liang Wendao. How to understand the art history of the world, and how to present the connection between the world and China, is what he has been trying, on the one hand, the time clues brought by technology, on the other hand, the time clues driven by events. There are also the global changes driven by the current pressing issues of Western artists and their expressions influenced by Eastern ideological trends: economic, environmental protection, industry and other fields. Both contributed to the contextual relationship that led to the curation of Daniel Knorr's exhibition.
Exhibition site
In the structure of the "Materialization" exhibition, Li Zhenhua hopes that the exhibition will present the long-term work of the artist as much as possible with a large number of projects, and regard the artist's time as a continuous whole. Past and present, the East and hope, are also echoed and connected to each other. For example, "Who is the public?" This work, the Shenzhen part of which was produced locally by the "Tomorrow See You Group". The "noodles", "Beijing Jeep", "BYD", etc. presented in "Washing" also have a very direct visual connection with the rise of industry in Chinese time. He thinks more about an artist's technical means and the local problems.
Exhibition site
Fortunately, the venue of the Pingshan Art Museum is a familiar venue for Li Zhenhua, and the first exhibition "Synchronic" of which Liu Xiaodu served as the director of the museum in 2019 was curated by him. Usually, Li Zhenhua, who plans the exhibition, will come to the scene one month in advance to complete many of the work of landing and coordinate the on-site exhibition. This exhibition, when Li Zhenhua landed in Shanghai quarantine, the exhibition has been opened, as a curator this is the first time for him.
The biggest challenge for Li Zhenhua in planning such a large-scale retrospective exhibition comes from five aspects:
1, production and transportation, the artist prepared a new project for this exhibition, which needs to be completed within the cycle, and then completed transportation and customs clearance.
2. How to complete the assembly of works, such as "Calligraphy Wig" and "Washing".
3. Complete "Who is the public?" " was filmed on the spot.
4. Communication between the exhibition and the audience and the media.
5. The problem of opening and closing the museum caused by the epidemic.
In the face of these challenges, Li Zhenhua said that the exhibition should follow the schedule predetermined by him and the artist, as well as the schedule for the transportation of specific works, customs clearance, and the process of specific arrangement. He himself can draw simple three-dimensional drawings, which solves the problem of arranging the work.
Some fine-tuned parts of the scene, such as "Washing", "Calligraphy Wig", and "Canvas Sculpture", are three large series of works, all of which are completed in the form of online video conferencing, together with colleagues from Pingshan Art Museum, as well as several friends of Teng Fei and Huang Yang. Therefore, Li Zhenhua is particularly grateful to his colleagues at Pingshan Art Museum, whose work has made all this possible, which shows the strength and ability of a professional team.
Exhibition site
Li Zhenhua also said that a seemingly simple process is full of all kinds of dynamic details. Fortunately, there were no bigger surprises, and he arrived at the scene a few days after the opening of the exhibition. Together with Zhang Shengbin, he completed 6 video short stories, hoping that the exhibition would be in the form of videos, on the one hand, grasping the semantic meaning that the artist hoped to give, and on the other hand, giving more local information.
"Transmission should be the biggest challenge for the epidemic Chinese project."
Li Zhenhua wants to do a good job for himself and his team, no matter whether the museum is open or closed, the information of the exhibition is circulating in the virtual world and will never fade.
At the same time, "air curation" has also made the communication between curators, artists and art museums closer, and the scope of collaboration has become larger and more transparent.
Wang Chunchen: We must decentralize the right to curate
In May, a new art museum was originally opened in Beijing, Wang Chunchen was the curator of the exhibition, the exhibition plan has been set, even to the stage of exhibition, but due to the epidemic, the project is currently in a stagnant stage, and will be carried out after the epidemic improves.
In Wang Chunchen's view, the postponement or stagnation of exhibitions during the epidemic has become the norm, and we must face it with a peaceful attitude. For example, last year, he planned the solo exhibition of "Sitting and Forgetting" in Taiyuan, Shanxi, and "Jiangxi Jiangxi Art's Homecoming: The Phalanx of the Times with the Academy of Fine Arts" in Yichun, Jiangxi, all of which could not go to the scene because of the epidemic, and the opening ceremony and seminar of the exhibition were carried out through video and online forms.
In the process of communication and coordination with institutions, Wang Chunchen found that in the implementation of the exhibition, we must give full respect and trust to art institutions, and do not think that only art institutions in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou can do a good job, and local art institutions can also do a good job.
Many times these institutions have been operating for many years and have rich exhibition experience, such as how to coordinate and communicate with curators, implement curators' curatorial concepts and ideas; communicate and coordinate with artists, transport works, and even the construction of exhibition walls and lighting settings, as well as the reception of guests at the opening of the exhibition and the organization of seminars, etc. The process has been very mature.
The curators have determined the works, sorted out the curatorial concepts, and left the rest to them. Therefore, Wang Chunchen believes that this situation is also a reminder for countermeasure exhibitors, that is, to decentralize curatorial power. In the curatorial process, the curator can make some reasonable suggestions, but some suggestions and curatorial ideas are not necessarily reasonable, and perhaps the organizer is more aware of how the exhibition should be presented, so consultation is important.
"Jiangxi Jiangxi Art's Homecoming: The Phalanx of the Times with the Academy of Fine Arts" scene
In 2020, after the epidemic, Wang Chunchen flew more than 50,000 miles throughout the year, doubling his flights to 100,000 in 2021, and by this year, he has not left Beijing so far.
Therefore, Wang Chunchen said that the biggest impact of the epidemic countermeasure exhibition is the postponement and stagnation of the exhibition, and the uncertainty brought about by it.
【Conclusion】Curators as a profession, more and more challenges, and these challenges also prompt this curator to need more professional and more experience of support, from the sharing of the above curators can see that in the future curation, teamwork will become a major trend, so how to better coordinate various relationships has become a test; in addition, the development of scientific and technological means, so that the experience of the exhibition changes, but also need curators to make new thinking and response, no matter what, Still touched by the professionalism of the curators, their dedication to the exhibition and the requirements for excellence are worth learning.