Germany unveils grand overseas show of Chinese contemporary art

It's a marriage of Chinese contemporary art and the birthplace of Germany's industrial revolution the Ruhr Valley. At first glance, it appears they do not belong together. But dialogue through culture always works miracles. That's how the large scale overseas show of Chinese contemporary art has come into being in Germany.

With an exhibition project called "CHINA 8 - Contemporary Art from China on the Rhine and Ruhr," eight cities and nine museums along the two rivers put on a show from May 15 to Sept. 13.

The exhibition incorporates over 500 works of more than 120 Chinese artists, a representative kaleidoscope of increasingly diversified modern art creations in the fast-changing nation.

"In our view, Chinese art today is a mirror of today's China," said Walter Smerling, spokesman for China 8's curatorial committee and director of the Duisburg-based MKM Museum Kueppersmuehle.

"They have an incredible wealth of history," he added. "My impression is that the artists have drawn on this long history and worked on it."

"After decades of development, China's contemporary artists have increasingly come out of a passive acceptance of Western and international trends and start to express their own experiences based on Chinese realities in forms that have increasingly combined China's own traditional artistic concepts with contemporary ways of expression," said Fan Di'an, president of China's Central Academy of Fine Arts and Chinese consultant to China 8's curatorial committee. Endit