Simultaneous Eidos -- Guangzhou Image Triennial 2017 will be held from December 15, 2017 to March 8, 2018 at Guangdong Museum of Art. The predecessor of Simultaneous Eidos -- Guangzhou Image Triennial was Guangzhou International Photography Biennial Exhibition hosted by the Guangdong Museum of Art, which was one of the major international photography biennials in China. Its basic purpose is to uphold the humanistic standpoint with international horizon and sociology of images and participate and promote the development of contemporary photography and culture in China. Reviewing the past three photography biennials (in 2005, 2007 and 2009), each exhibition established a theme and academic orientation focused on the history of photographic photography in order to showcase contemporary photographic practices. At the same time, the passion of national art museums for photography research and collection is ignited.

 

Group Photo of Director Wang Shaoqiang and the Academic Team

 

 

At Meeting

 

In 2016, Wang Shaoqiang, director of Guangdong Museum of Art, gathered scholars and experts in various fields to discuss whether or not to relaunch the brand project of "Guangzhou International Photography Biennial Exhibition", the significance of the project, the transition of contemporary photography and curatorial system, and the academic institutionalization of art museums. Finally, Guangdong Museum of Art decided to relaunch the brand project of "Guangzhou International Photography Biennial Exhibition" based on the opinions and suggestions of all parties and the academic position of the museum and officially renamed "Guangzhou International Photography Biennial Exhibition" as "Guangzhou Image Triennial". It is based on the following considerations: With the development of digitization and the Internet and continuous expansion and development of technical visual media, photography has, to a large extent, been a part of the broader image culture. At the same time, more and more artists are also using various new media in photography, broadening the diversified expressions of photography. The instinct categorization of art media and types is not sufficient to respond to the current changes of society, culture and art development. Therefore, art museums must immediately pay attention and respond to the art practice that is based on photography but goes beyond photography to include them into "Image", a broader definition. As a part of the new art media, "image" includes image, audio, movement, and three-dimensional animation and other elements, which is more capable of including various cross-media art practices. Based on the observation and reflection of the development of media phenomenon, Guangdong Museum of Art expands its research focus from the original "photography of social humanities" into a more inclusive and disciplined "visual research image" direction of work to promote the practice of contemporary Chinese image art and research.

 

Curators (From the left: Bao Dong, Alejandro Castellote, and Zeng Han)

 

Topic Discussion of Guangzhou Image Triennial 2017

 

This Image Triennial will be generally planned by Wang Shaoqiang, director of Guangdong Museum of Art, curated by Alejandro Castellote (Spain), Bao Dong (China) and Zeng Han (China) as curators. Gu Zheng, Pi Li, Chen Weixing, Yang Xiaoyan, Feng Yuan , Qin Wei and other experts and scholars will be invited to form an academic committee. In order to form a positive atmosphere for academic discussion, Lu Mingjun, Sun Dongdong, Sun Xiaofeng and Chen Wei will also be invited to form an observation and review group. This Image Triennial Exhibition is themed "Simultaneous Eidos". At the level of philosophy, "simultaneous eidos" suggests The "complex phase" at the philosophical level suggests a multiple, synchronic existence, a non-centralist and de-essential world, with the aim of placing photography and images in a non-reflective dimension and emphasizing images Its own independence and parallel to reality, and even produce different realities. "Overlapping shadow" emphasizes the complex and leapfrogging between different video media and encourages us to face the various photography-video practice today , A more open and inclusive grasp of the traditional concept of photography, and the relationship between photography and other visual arts as a new space for discussion. In the context of Chinese characters, "complex phase" means "overlap" "shadow phase", "overlap" is restart, continuity and difference, "shadow" is Cantonese on the "photography" is called Therefore, this theme also contains the meaning of the Guangdong Museum of Art resuming the exhibition, research and collection of photography and video in a new context.

 

This exhibition structure, unit and artists of this Guangzhou Image Triennial will be announced in June 2017.

 

Guangdong Museum of Art

March 2017