On the morning of September 15, the first session of the Curatorial Committee of the 9th Beijing International Art Biennale, China (hereinafter referred to as Beijing Biennale) was successfully held in the Report Hall of the China Federation of literary and Art Circles. Fan Di'an, Chairman of China Artists Association and Chief Curator of Beijing Biennale, Li Xiangqun, Vice Chairman of China Artists Association and Chief Curator of Beijing Biennale; Shao Dazhen, Counselor of Beijing Biennale and professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts; and the curators, including Ding Ning, Ma Shulin, Wang Hongjian, Wang Duanting, Wang Yong, Niu Kecheng, Lu Yushun, Dai Daquan, Bao Lin, Liu Xilin, An Yuanyuan, Sun Lixin, Sun Tao, Li Geng, Li Yang, Shang Hui, Zheng Gong, Hu Wei, Xue Yongnian, etc. attended the meeting. Tao Qin, project leader of the Beijing Biennale, deputy secretary of the Party group, first-class inspector of China Artists Association, presided over the meeting.
Fan Di’an
Mr. Fan Di'an delivered a speech and pointed out that the first session of the Curatorial Committee of the 9th Beijing Biennale is an upgrading embodiment of returning to work, production, art and education after China's strategic achievements in fighting against the epidemic situation, and also reflects the dedication of all the curators and exhibition team to work together for the great cause of Beijing Biennale. Then Chairman Fan briefly reviewed the achievements of the Beijing Biennale since its establishment, and summed up its two outstanding features. The first, the theme of each session is aimed at the new topics proposed by the culture of the times. Secondly, the Biennale has actively and extensively contacted the art circles and related cultural institutions of various countries in the process of organization, which constitutes its unique universality. We are now facing a great change that has not happened in a century. This unprecedented change has brought us new challenges in thinking about the theme of this 9th Beijing Biennale and its further organization. But it is also because of the challenges that we can make a concerted effort to start again on the basis of the previous eight sessions.
Tao Qin
Then Ms. Tao Qin made a summary of the 8th Beijing Biennale ,and introduced the implementation planning of the 9th Beijing Biennale. Ms. Tao Qin pointed out that the 8th Beijing Biennale achieved unprecedented success. In short, there are four most prominent highlights about the 8th Beijing Biennale. Firstly, the original academic theme aroused international resonance, and the artists to build the humanistic foundation of the shared future together. Secondly, the participating countries grew to an unprecedented 113 from five continents, which made it the most popular exhibition among artists in the world. A total of 640 works of 595 artists from 113 countries from five continents were selected and exhibited finally, breaking its own record of the number of participating countries. The third is the participation of many artists of new literary and artistic groups in China. Fourthly, the quantity and quality of free donation works received at home and abroad is unprecedented, which intuitively conveys the support and affirmation of Chinese and foreign artists for Beijing Biennale. The 8th Beijing Biennale received 135 free donation works from 44 countries in five continents, which was the largest number of donated works accepted among previous Beijing Biennales. The total number of collections of Beijing Biennale over the years has exceeded 600, making it the unique international collection of contemporary art with the largest scale, the highest quality and the richest categories accumulated by a single exhibition in China. In order to strengthen the activation of collections and boost the prosperity and development of local cultural work, the China Artists Association has launched a series of collections exhibitions at home and abroad in recent years. Taking the national tour of the collections of the 8th Beijing Biennale as an example, even under the situation of the novel coronavirus epidemic, Yixing, Jiangsu Province and Panjin, Liaoning Province, were successfully held the exhibitions. Among them, Yixing, a famous historical art city, has more than 60000 audiences. Panjin exhibition has just opened and is on display.
At present, the preparation of the 9th Beijing Biennale has been started. The preparation of Beijing Biennale has always been a huge systematic project, and each working procedure and each internal and external communication are of vital importance. The follow- up work of the 9th Beijing Biennale is still a long way to go.
After that, the Curatorial Committee discussed the theme scheme warmly. The curators prepared carefully before the meeting and submitted their ideas timely. At the meeting, the Curatorial Committee members expressed their own opinions and drew on the collective wisdom. Through full discussion, the theme scheme of the 9th Beijing Biennale was initially determined. Subsequently, the amendment of the regulations and the submission of artist recommendation list were carried out.
Li Xiangqun
Shao Dazhen
Xue Yongnian
Wang Yong
Liu Xilin
Lu Yushun
Ding Ning
Ma Shulin
Wang Hongjian
Wang Duanting
Niu Kecheng
Dai Daquan
Bao Lin
An Yuanyuan
Sun Lixin
Sun Tao
Li Geng
Li Yang
Shang Hui
Zheng Gong
Hu Wei
According to the practice of Beijing Biennale, we will submit the related materials to the superior department for approval after the first session of the Curatorial Committee, and then to hold the press conference and call for contributions from all over the world. The organizers of the Beijing Biennale will deliver the exhibition news on official wechat and website timely.
