Foreword
This book presents a footprint of the research process of exhibitions at Unicorn Centre for Art (UCA) from 2015 to 2016. I would like to dedicate this article to ever yone who accompanied us during the growth process of UCA. Its existence relies on your support.
The year I graduated from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Lyon, was the sixth year I lived in France. My professor asked me:"Why did you come to France? " I said that my father had told me if I wanted to study art, I should come to France. Then he asked: "Do you still think so? " I shook my head and said: "It should be in the world."Then, I immigrated to North America. Four years later, in 2014, while I was working at an art institute in Canada, I had the idea of moving back to China.
In the summer of that year, I paid a visit to the artist and professor Qiu Zhijie. I got to know Prof. Qiu from the 2012 Shanghai Biennale. During the preparation period, the energetic artist enthusiastically described his Intercity Pavilions Project to us. He wanted to create a Biennale for China that was open to the world and self-generating. I was thrilled by his aspiration. Immediately I contacted the team of Biennale de Lyon for him, and coordinated the join of Düsseldorf Pavilion. One day, Prof. Qiu asked me at his studio in No.1 Art Base, "What do you want to do next? " I said that I wanted to be a curator, and open a door for young artists. I wanted to invite overseas artists to come here to do residency and see China today; and let Chinese artists interact with them and exchange the approaches of working and thinking.
Before long, I met the founder of UCA, Mr. Yang Ga. Our vision for UCA is an independent non-profit art space. Mr.Yang's passion and insight of art made this possible - we both agreed that to create an independent art space we should concern less about material gain, but the sincere need from within - to bring the audience diverse contemporary art from the world, and to provide more exposure for young artists. This kind of goal and desire in passion is the root for the sustainability and long existence of an art space. Our art space communicates with the people within the social context, emphasizing on disseminating contemporary art and promoting its free and equal spirit. We strive to provide a platform for intellectual enquiries.
Next, Prof. Qiu Zhijie named this independent nonprofit space"Unicorn Centre for Art." One of Prof. Qiu Zhijie's work is titled "The Unicorn and the Dragon, " in which Prof. Qiu pointed out that unicorns are mystical animals with symbolic meaning. For me, the visual cognition of a unicorn came from the six tapestries named "The Lady and the Unicorn (La dame à la licorne)" from the Musée national du Moyen Âge in Paris. In the story depicted in the tapestries, the unicorn controls five senses: touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight. And the sixth tapestry was titled "À mon seul désir (my one/sole desire), " which depicted the mysterious sixth sense that brings people infinite fantasies. So, we hope that UCA can also bring infinite new possibilities.
Soon, we found a space for UCA in Caochangdi International Art Zone next to the Fifth Ring Road. In regard of the scale of the exhibition space and the length of the exhibition line, Unicorn should be the biggest independent nonprofit art institute in Beijing.
Now let's talk about "nonprofit space." In 1960s, a number of spaces that were deemed subversive in terms of their historical significance emerged in Europe and America. These spaces were called "alternative spaces." These spaces were usually connected with the concept of"experimental research." The most famous ones include "Signals, "established in London in 1964, and "Arts Labs, " established in 1967, both were labeled as spaces for "creative research" or "art research."The concept of nonprofit organization was born after World War II. A Nonprofit organization has characteristics such as: its purpose is not profit making; it cannot distribute its surplus income. A nonprofit organization depends very much on self-organizing and voluntary services. Here, I want to express my gratitude to all the volunteers who have worked for UCA in the past two years: Han Lu, Luo Xiaopei, Zhou Mengfan, Chen Jiahao, and Quan Zijun.Exhibitions, works and audience, proactive or passive, will mingle with each other in the exhibition space. Together they breed, and create a unique presence. Artist Stan Wannte from the Netherlands, presented a complete biological chain using 20,000 crickets, plants and materials bought from flea markets in Europe - a wax human figure with a mechanic "hand" holding a camera recording the whole process of insects eating the "body." French artist Thierry Liegeois created a "scene" in UCA's main exhibition hall where the audience could participate. When the audience laboriously climbed up to the space, which he jokingly called "my temple, " through the ramp way, will they be grasped with "wonder, " "pleasant surprise, " "thrill, " or "horror? "Doesn't our social environment challenge us like this over time one way or another? From the Manuel Castells perspective, the space is not a reaction of the society; it is the manifestation of the society. In another word, the space is not a copy of the society; the space is society.
Through the exhibitions of these two years, I, as the chief curator, understand "curating" as a work that focuses on synthesizing and mobilizing resources to generate an event with point of views. The major themes consist of sociological topics, reconstruction of art history, visual modeling, and the relationship between technology and anthropology. In the opening exhibition titled "Temporary Residence Permit, " we invited a number of "Beijing drifter" artists. Their inquiry,"life in elsewhere, " was manifested in their work, which tackled the social issue of "drifting." The exhibition "Temporary Residence Permit II" invited artists from different countries who were living in Beijing, to describe what they have seen about Chinese educational environment, cultural background, and humanistic care through their work. From another perspective, young artists, before their own system have been completely established, need to absorb nutrition from the society and different social groups, and only at this stage can the artists gather as"groups."
For me, the work of curation not only has the characteristics of integration and coordination, but also carries personal perspectives, opinions and judgments. In the exhibition "Espaces métonymiques, " I invited the artist Patrick Tosani, who had a significant influence on me during my student life, and his wife Claire Chevrier. Tosani is an important artist in the history of contemporary photography; he gave us a dynamic contemporary photography lesson through his work and workshop. In the exhibition Prism, I invited my professor Didier Mencoboni from ENBA-Bourges and my fellow student of the time, Dong Dawei, who co-presented a visual spectacle with light and shadow.
The exhibition space of artwork is actually a space for the congregation of all kinds of relationships. The exhibition "Télofossiles" was an important component of the 10th Croisements Festival. The presence of the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, and the medal-conferring ceremony of Tie Ning, Chair of China Writers Association, were certainly memorable moments in UCA's path of growth .
My special thanks go to Mr. Yang Ga, who unconditionally supported all the exhibitions in UCA in the past two years, and to Prof. Qiu Zhijie, who provided us generous scholarly support.
Cheng Manman
Nov. 2016
