Editor’s Note
Museums and cultural institutions are subjects Yishu has explored in past issues. The first three texts in Yishu 67 continue that exploration with a panel discussion organized by Orianna Cacchione and Mia Yu on projects that have taken place in non-urban contexts, a reflection by Nikita Yingqian Cai on institutional critique within mainland China, and an interview with Hou Hanru by Yu Hsiao Hwei that provides one of the most succinct insights into his curatorial practice as well as his perspective on the relevance of museums in terms of their publicness.
The Shanghai Biennale, now in its tenth year and in its second manifestation at the massive Shanghai Power Station, is examined by Julie Chun not only with respect to the curatorial premise and the artwork, but also, how this major Asian event and the institution that supports it might be wanting in its publicness.
Lisa Catt discusses two artists, FX Harsono and Tintin Wulia, whose work addresses the troubled historical context of people of Chinese descent in Indonesia, an area within the vast Chinese diaspora that until recently has been little researched. Yu-Chieh Li reviews an exhibition at Cornell University, one of the few group exhibitions of contemporary art from Taiwan to be seen outside of Taiwan, and questions why internationally, and compared to work from the rest of greater China, so little attention is given to the distinct art that has emerged from this island.
We close with three more exhibition reviews. Two of the exhibitions, one with Wanxin Zhang, who makes large-scale ceramic sculpture, and the other a group exhibition of international artists dealing with landscape, took place in San Francisco, a city that has long been home to Chinese artists and that has a distinguished history of exhibiting their work. The third exhibition, Harmonious Society, was a component of the Asia Triennial Manchester, an event initiated in 2008 that with each iteration is gaining a greater profile within the growing list of biennials and triennials focused on Asian art.
Yishu mourns the passing away on February 1, 2015, of Ni Tsai Chin (1955–2015), a highly respected artist and professor at Tunghai University, Taiwan, and one of our long standing Advisory Board members.
Keith Wallace
Image (top): FX Harnoso, Writing in the Rain, 2011, performance-installation, wood chair, desk, 24-inch television, single-channel video, 6 mins., 11 secs., dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.
