[Press Release]
The curatorial premise for the 3rd Independent Art Spaces is part feeling, part idea: Periods of change hold distinctive creative potential. When it comes to the city of Beijing, it is a morphing environment whose only constant is its inevitable transformation. The question for artists, curators, cultural practitioners then is: To what extent do we see art as merely reflective, illustrative, or representative of its specific cultural and sociopolitical context, rather than endowed with the capacity to transcend difference and engage critically with change, readapt, redesign, or influence change?
Warped, fragmented and endlessly repeated. Responses to the urban experience have ranged from unbridled enthusiasm for these vibrant hubs of glittering prosperity to examinations of the psychological shadows of city living: alienation, anxiety, tension and fear. The current status of global cities is marked by new geographies and social relations molded by advancing technologies and economic systems. How do contemporary artists respond to these conditions?
Independent Art Spaces 2017 will display experimental strategies and playful interactions that create new stories. It is not necessarily a place for experts, nor for clear questions and answers, but rather an open forum for innovative, untested approaches to cities and their inhabitants and the solidarity in between.
Organized by:
I: project space and the IAS network
Special thanks to:
Sasha Fominskaya, LAVA Design Beijing and Sun Chang
Official Website：http://www.iasbeijing.org/
