A Deeper Look at Where Inspirations Meet: UCCA's Collaboration Series With Beijing's Live Music Venues
This past month, UCCA – one of 798’s top art institutions – kicked off an intriguing new project: a partnership with four very different live music venues around Beijing.
Called Where Inspirations Meet, the series is happening in tandem with the art center’s current exhibition Somewhere Downtown: Art in 1980s New York. Organized by UCCA’s Public Practice department – which puts on public programs in formats including lectures, workshops, film and performing arts events – Where Inspirations Meet is meant to show a connection between the visual arts and music across time and borders.
We spoke with project organizer Larry Zhang to find out more about the series, which recently held its first event at nugget on Nov 4.
What was the inspiration behind the series and how does it connect with Somewhere Downtown?
We were motivated to do Where Inspirations Meet in order to pay homage to art in New York in the 1980s, which is also the theme of Somewhere Downtown.
Artists can be writers, performers, and musicians all at the same time, and thanks to live houses and clubs like 8 B.C. and Club 57, these artists can thrive. Many avant-garde performing and visual arts are present not in theaters, museums, or galleries, but in music venues! These scenes inspired whoever gathered there and gave birth to many experimental art ideas.
Though we have presented some great artworks related to the club scene at that time, we find it is necessary to bring artists and our audiences to our local clubs and live houses, because there are lots of splendid spaces which are doing the same thing right here in Beijing.
What artists are involved in the series and why were they chosen?
Artists involved in the project are Julia Long, Guo Hongwei, A Ke/Gong Hao/Jasagala/Zijie, and Feng Mengbo (in show time order).
Our choices are based on the artists’ practices and their relevance to the venue. For instance, Julia Long and nugget co-founder Jen Rao have similar experiences. They both have experienced living and working away from their home countries, both have created works in illustration, and both have a rich cassette tape collection.
Guo Hongwei used to be the lead singer in a punk band and spent most of his free time at SCHOOL, where he’ll be showcasing his work. A Ke, Gong Hao, Jasgala, and Zijie are practicing art for the sake of their local communities, similar to what fRUITYSPACE is doing. And finally, Feng Mengbo’s works have a multimedia bent. His work “short wave” combines synthesizer music and visual art together, which fits perfectly in an environment like that of techno club Zhao Dai.
Ditto for the music spaces you chose. Of all the venues across Beijing, why did you choose these four?
When we went about picking venues, we started by looking at the relationship between the venue and artist circles. The four venues involved in the series are helping local artists realize their work via exhibitions and art projects, or else doing art-related activities themselves. Some of them directly link to our exhibition topics, such as subcultures and punk rock.
How can people take part in the events? Would you recommend participants see the exhibition before or after the series?
People who are interested in taking part can find the ticketing info on UCCA’s official WeChat account and mini-programs, also the WeChat accounts for the venues we’re cooperating with. We recommend participants visit the exhibition in order to better understand the context of the smaller series. The order of viewing the exhibition and the show is not important, because they are helping each other to illustrate the culture and spirit behind them.
Where Inspirations Meet: A Tour of Beijing's Music Spaces continues this Friday, Nov 18 from 9-11pm at SCHOOL Live Bar. Tickets are RMB 100 for the event and RMB 180 for the exhibition and event, and can be purchased via the UCCA mini-program or their official WeChat account (search UCCA尤伦斯当代艺术中心).
READ: Plastered 8 is Back – for a Limited Time Collab with the Grateful Dead
Images courtesy of UCCA/Larry Zhang
