Editor’s Note

Yishu 51 opens with an extensive report by Stephanie Bailey on the Sharjah Art Foundation’s March Meeting and Art Dubai. While the United Arab Emirates at first may seem to have few affinities with China, Chinese curators and galleries were represented in both events and the evolving issues of culture and politics within globalization that Bailey addresses are as relevant to China as they are to any other nation. Moreover, the Middle East is a current “hot spot” for artistic attention that brings a new perspective to regions such as China and India, which also experienced the “hot spot” phenomenon and which are now transitioning into more sustainable positions internationally.

The massive ongoing process of demolition and reconstruction in China is a subject that has been much discussed. Clara Galeazzi and Meiqin Wang approach two very different aspects of it, one revisiting consequences of the “revitalization” of a popular neighbourhood in Beijing, the other discussing the threat of urbanization that is now encroaching upon rural areas and how artists are bringing notice to it. Meiling Cheng examines what she calls “untamed histories,” the reciting of actions and events that are outside of officially sanctioned reports, and how the work of artists can render interpretations of history in unconventional but powerful ways. Like Clara Galeazzi, Amelia Mariani also looks retrospectively, in her case to ten years ago, to reconsider a turning point in the career of Zhang Huan through a reading of the influence of Buddhism on his work.

Interviews have always been an important format in Yishu for voices to be heard in a more personal way, and in this issue we feature Li Zhenhua speaking with Yan Lei, who will be one of the two Chinese artists participating in the 2012 documenta, in Kassel (the other is Song Dong). As well, Ingrid Chu talks with Herb Tam, recently appointed Curator and Director of Exhibitions at the Museum of Chinese in America, about its new building and how contemporary art is being incorporated into the programs of what was primarily a historical museum.

Yishu 51 wraps up with reviews by Voon Pow Bartlett, David Ho Yeung Chan, Jonathan Goodman, and John Millichap that take us to London, Shanghai, New York, and Beijing.

Keith Wallace

image (top): Panorama of Meishi Street, 2005. Courtesy of Ou Ning.