FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea
present
THE SZECHWAN TALE
China, Theatre and History
curated by Marco Scotini
April 12 – July 15 2018
Press conference: Wednesday April 11, 11 am
Opening: Thursday April 12, 8 pm
From April 12 until July 15, 2018, FM Centre for Contemporary Art present The Szechwan Tale. China, Theatre and History, a new large-scale exhibition curated by Marco Scotini – artistic director of FM Centre – focused on the Chinese context, following the line of research set with the latest exhibitions Non-Aligned Modernity, focused on Eastern European Art, and The White Hunter, on African Art.
The Szechwan Tale. China, Theatre and History will open on
April 12, 2018, during the
Milan Art Week and miart, the International Modern and Contemporary Art Fair of Milan.
The exhibition is tracing the relationship between East and West around the grand themes of Theater and History, covering these subjects within a sort of meta-theatre in which more than thirty international and Chinese artists provide a deconstruction of the tools of the theatric machine – such as: the audience, the curtain, the actors (the automaton, the puppet, the shadow theater), the costumes and the backdrops (a changing and unchanging environment), the text and the music – as metaphors of an equal number of social phenomena and of their historic nature.
The exhibition is an evolution of the project that the curator Marco Scotini realized in Anren, Sichuan (China), at the first Anren Biennale (28 October 2017 – February 2018), titled Today’s Yesterday, with the addition of other internationally renown Chinese artists. Original artworks included will range from painting to photography, installation to video and documentaries, coming from prestigious private collections.
The title of the exhibition is a reference to the theatrical work by Bertolt Brecht The Good Person of Szechwan (Der gute Mensch von Sezuan) written in 1938-1941, also staged by Giorgio Strehler at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan in 1957-58. The figure of Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), one of the most famous Peking Opera artists, which influenced Russian and German avant-garde theater will be central to the exhibition. Other references include the opera, with the lavish costume that the soprano Gina Cigna worn in the ’30s for Puccini’s Turandot at the Teatro alla Scala.
Artists: Cao Fei, Cornelius Cardew, Chen Zhen, Chia-Wei Hsu, Céline Condorelli, Peter Friedl, Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi, Piero Gilardi, Dan Graham, Joris Ivens, Jia Zhangke, Joan Jonas, William Kentridge, Lin Yilin, Liu Ding, Mao Tongqiang, Mei Lanfang, Rithy Panh, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Lisl Ponger, Qiu Zhijie, Pedro Reyes, Santiago Sierra, Sun Xun, Marko Tadić, Ulla von Brandenburg, Clemens von Wedemeyer & Maya Schweizer, Wei Minglun, Yang Yuanyuan, Zhang Huan, Zhuang Hui.
Collections: Alessandra and Paolo Barillari Collection, Enrico Bonanate Collection, Serena and Paolo Gori Collection, E. Righi Collection.
Main partner: Biennale di Anren.
The exhibition is patronized by the
City of Milan.
The exhibition will be held in collaboration with Mei Lanfang Memorial Museum – Beijing, Istituto Culturale Italo-Cinese and NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti – Milan.
Thanks to: Archivio Piccolo Teatro – Milan, Charim Galerie – Wien, Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, European Foundation Joris Ivens, Fondazione Centro Studi Piero Gilardi, Galerie Art : Concept – Paris, Galerie Edouard Malingue – Hong Kong, GALLERIA CONTINUA – San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana, Galleria Lia Rumma – Milan/Naples, Galleria Raffaella Cortese – Milan, Guido Costa Projects – Turin, Laura Bulian Gallery – Milan, Museo Teatrale alla Scala – Milan, ProjectB Gallery – Milan, Prometeogallery di Ida Pisani – Milan, Wei Minglun Literature Museum.
The set up, transport and logistics, the conservation of the works are entrusted to Open Care – Servizi per l’arte.
Technical sponsors: Untitled Association – Birra Menabrea Spa.
Wine partner: La Vigna del Nespolo.
Special openings during miart (free admission):
Friday, April 13: from 11 am to 10 pm
Saturday 14 April: from 11 am to 10 pm
Sunday, April 15th: from 11 am to 7 pm
Opening hours from 12 April to 15 July 2018 (free admission):
from Wednesday to Friday 5-10 pm
Saturday and Sunday 11 am-7 pm
Guided tours and other days / times by reservation – with the opportunity to visit the Open Care restoration laboratories.
Talk on The Szechwan Tale. China, Theatre and History
with Marco Scotini, curator of the exhibition; Lü Peng, art historian of Chinese art; Liu Zhen, director of Mei Lanfang Memorial Museum – Beijing; Liu Ding, Mao Tongqiang, Zhuang Hui, artists.
Saturday 14th April 11.00am – Sala Carroponte of FM Center for Contemporary Art
Special openings during miart (free admission):
Friday, April 13: from 11 am to 10 pm
Saturday 14 April: from 11 am to 10 pm
Sunday, April 15th: from 11 am to 7 pm
Opening hours from 12 April to 15 July 2018 (free admission):
from Wednesday to Friday 5-10 pm
Saturday and Sunday 11 am-7 pm
Guided tours and other days / times by reservation – with the opportunity to visit the Open Care restoration laboratories.
Talk on The Szechwan Tale. China, Theatre and History
with Marco Scotini, curator of the exhibition; Lü Peng, art historian of Chinese art; Liu Zhen, director of Mei Lanfang Memorial Museum – Beijing; Liu Ding, Mao Tongqiang, Zhuang Hui, artists.
Saturday 14th April 11.00am – Sala Carroponte of FM Center for Contemporary Art
Information
Alessandro Azzoni
FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea
FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea
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