Sands China presents sought-after Chinese contemporary artworks

With aims to assist the local government’s goal of diversifying tourism and offerings, Sands China recently unveiled The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China 2022 (Macau China) at The Venetian Macao.

The exhibition is now in its 9th edition and is being held outside the mainland for the first time, thereby introducing a greater diversity of art exhibitions to Macau and promote the sustainable development of the local art and cultural industry.

The multifaceted exhibition gives visitors an overview of Chinese contemporary art in 2022 by presenting original works of 28 artists, showcasing some of the most recent creations in this field.

Curated by the art historian and art critic Professor Zhu Qingsheng and his team, the exposition’s works reflect the artists’ cultural and existential experiences against the background of themes such as globalisation, the simulation and transformation of information, the intersections between art and technology, the value and boundaries of art, the female perspective, urbanisation processes, and the history of media communication.

For Sands China, the exposition has the goal of “nourishing people’s souls through art, and enable Macau’s local artists to have a thorough understanding of the trends in the development of Chinese contemporary art – so that they can foresee the evolving trends in this field and gain inspiration for their creative works.”

The exhibited works, which include oil paintings, videos, performance art, installations, and others, were selected because they possess originality, offer reflections on and insights into social reality, and reflect the themes of the exhibition and the overall issues explored in Chinese contemporary art in a structured manner – with an aim to initiate a dialogue about art and the spirit of the times.

Among the artists are those who have already achieved significant accomplishments, alongside young artists with increasingly enriched creative backgrounds and international experiences, including art groups engaged in new forms of collective creation.

The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China is co-organised by Sands China and the Chinese Modern Art Archive (CMAA) of Peking University and is supported by the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) Library and Faculty of Humanities and Arts.

The art pieces presented in the exhibition were selected from the book Annual of Contemporary Art of China 2022.

The long-published annual is a yearly survey and record of the overall activities, exhibitions, and published literature related to Chinese contemporary art, and is compiled at Peking University as an archival foundation for the development of Chinese contemporary art.

The current exhibition at Cotai Expo is a follow-up to the recent “Documental Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China,” which ran at Sands Gallery in December 2023 and January 2024.

It offered viewers a comprehensive overview of Chinese contemporary art from 2005 to 2022 by showcasing precious publications, surveys, and records, including manuscripts, which provide significant documentation of the evolution of Chinese contemporary art.

With a vast range of global experience, Professor Zhu Qingsheng, an artist better known as LaoZhu, curated both exhibitions.

Besides being chief editor of Annual of Contemporary Art of China and president of the Comité International d’Histoire de I’Art (2016-2021), he is professor and director of the Centre for Visual Studies (CVS) at Peking University and director of the World Art HistoryInstitute (WAI) at Shanghai International Studies University. He has been head of the Chinese Modern Art Archive for 37 years, since 1986.

“Macau is China’s gateway to the world, and it also serves as a stepping stone for Chinese contemporary art to the global stage,” said Zhu.

“We are literally showcasing the cultural achievements of China’s economic reform to the world by hosting ‘The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China’ in Macau – a Special Administrative Region of China with an international art scene,” he added.

For Zhu, the goal is to bring Chinese contemporary art to an international audience.

“We need to fully express our own systematic theory, value judgment, and research achievements in a concrete and mature way – so that people with different artistic perspectives, cultures, and ideologies can understand the rationale behind each artwork,” he added.

The opening ceremony last week was followed by a seminar, where artists were invited to participate in artistic exchanges with LaoZhu, MUST guest professor and renowned artist Ung Vai Meng, MUST professor Gu Yue, and others, in a discussion on the development of contemporary art education and creation in both Macau and the mainland.

The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China is part of Sands China’s efforts to introduce a greater diversity of art exhibitions to Macau and promote the sustainable development of the local art and cultural industry.

The exhibition is free and open to the public from Feb. 1 to 27, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. daily at Cotai Expo Hall C.