CHINA 8 | contemporary Chinese art in Rhine & Ruhr

CHINA 8 – CONTEMPORARY ART FROM CHINA AT RHINE & RUHR involves 8 cities, 9 museums, 120 Chinese artists, 500 works shown for the first time in Germany. China 8 is the largest institutional exhibition of contemporary art from China ever to be assembled anywhere in the world. Running May 15 - September 13 2015, CHINA 8 is taking place in nine museums across the Rhine and Ruhr region of Germany. Eight cities along the Rhine and Ruhr, nine museums, around 120 artists – the CHINA 8 exhibition is the most comprehensive survey of contemporary Chinese art held in Germany to date. Alongside established artists, the positions of younger and newly emerging artists are also represented. Nine museums in Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Marl, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Recklinghausen have come together for this joint project and will be showing works from the fields of painting, photography, calligraphy, ink drawing, sculpture, installation art and video from 15th May to 13th September 2015. The ‘eight’ in the show’s title is not only the number of the participating cities, but also a significant Chinese lucky number.

What is happening in the Chinese art scene today? This show sets out to explore this multifaceted landscape, identify what is currently inspiring and motivating Chinese artists, showcase their key themes and visual language, chart the stylistic paths embarked upon and answer the question of whether there is such a thing as “Chinese art” at all.