Shifting Perceptions

The Nanjing International Art Festival comes to the capital of the Jiangsu province in China, this winter, and explores the theme Historicode: Scarcity and Supply for its third edition. The show announced 315 artists who were selected to delve into this year’s topic. The new Baijia Lake Museum, a former commercial building with 20,000 square metres of space, is be inundated with over 400 works from across the globe.  The museum, a canvas for the festival, is a re-appropriated former residential and commercial building, with a distinctive “skin” around the façade of the structure, video, painting, sculpture, installation and photography are some of the media that are used to showcase the central subjects of the event.

Highlights of the display feature work from internationally acclaimed Chinese artists, such as Wang Qingsong, Zeng Fanzhi, and Zhang Xiaogang. However, not only are Chinese and Asian artists represented, work from Adrian Paci, Anna Mario Maiolino, Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, and Joseph Beuys are also on display. The selection has been submitted by the international curatorial committee, under the guidance of the chief-curator Lu Peng, and co-curator Letizia Ragaglia. Peng explains the subject of the festival, stating that: “The theme reflects on a shift of perception and production in the art world in recent years … artworks and artists have been affected by the role and place the art market has taken.” The opening of the exhibition is timed to coincide with remarkable series of art events featured in Shanghai, and brings a flux of art and thought into the region.

The festival opens 12 November – 12 February 2017. For further information visit www.njiaf.com.

To keep up to date with the latest art and design events, follow: @Aestheticamag.

Credits: 
1. Bahar Noorizadeh, still from Lingo. Courtesy of the artist.