Nine Lives / Take Two
Xu Bing, <i>Book from the Ground</i>, 2001-7, computer programme, texts, installation version
Xu Bing, Book from the Ground, 2001-7, computer programme, texts, installation version

AAA is pleased to present a talk by curator specialising in Chinese contemporary art, Karen Smith. She will discuss the changing timbre of avant-garde art in China, touching on topics such as the lives of artists; curatorial practices and the way discourse on art has been affected over the last two years.

As an acknowledged authority on the Chinese avant-garde and the contemporary art scene it spawned, Smith settled in China in 1993 to explore an art scene that was then unknown beyond its national borders. She has also published Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde art in New China, one of the first publications in English to attempt to map out a comprehensive art history from Mao’s death to today.

Smith is currently writing a monograph on artist/architect Ai Weiwei for the Contemporary Artist Series, due for release Spring 2009.  Her curatorial work includes: My China Now—a moving image project (Hayward Gallery) 2008; Illumination: Ai Weiwei(Mary Boone Gallery) 2008; The Real Thing (Tate Liverpool) 2007; The Chinese: Photography and Video from China (Kunsthaus Wolfsberg) 2004; Revolutionary Capitals: Beijing in London (ICA) 1999.

The talk coincides with the release of the second edition of Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde art in New China.

Limited Seats Available


Special thanks to The Hong Kong Art School for the venue for the talk.

Relevant content

Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde Art in New China
Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde Art in New China
Reference

Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde Art in New China

Karen SMITH
2005