24 Feb 2011

Asian Contemporary Art Week, March 21- 31, 2011

Asian Contemporary Art Week 2011 brings together 25 museums and galleries for a citywide presentation of curated exhibitions, public programs and special receptions featuring over 90 artists from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Korea, Japan, Pakistan and many more.

Now in its seventh edition, ACAW 2011 launches Dialogues in Asian Contemporary Art, a series of discussions with 25 specially invited influential international artists, curators, and scholars to examine current discourses both inside and outside of Asia. The Dialogues are scheduled over ten days in a variety of topics and formats with each evening devoted to a specific district of New York City in conjunction with many exhibition openings.

Kicking off the week on Monday, March 21 at the Museum of Modern Art, Mariam Ghani will tell of her investigations of city reconstructions, cultural reinventions, and the public and private narratives that influence it all. This theme will be expanded on further at Location One on Thursday, March 30 as Asian Cultural Council 2011 grantees/artists Rahraw Omarzad (Afghanistan), Firoz Mahmud (Bangladesh), Chaw Ei Thein (Burma), and Fong Wah Phoebe Hui (Hong Kong, China) convene for a panel on the evolving societal roles and responsibilities of artists in their ever-globalizing local spaces. 


Two Dialogue sessions at Asia Society Museum will honor artists and art movements continuing to influence contemporary art practices. On Wednesday, March 23 M. F. Husain (India), and Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (Iran) will talk about their life and work, both with careers spanning over 50 years. A lively cross-generational dialogue between New York City based Japanese artists Ushio Shinohara and Tomokazu Matsuyama will be held on Monday March 28.

Perennial exhibitions such as biennials and triennials have flourished worldwide, with a number of very important international biennials now situated in Asia. Curators David Elliott (Sydney Biennale 2010), Massimiliano Gioni (Gwangju Biennale 2010), and Suzanne Cotter (Sharjah Biennial 2011) will share their experiences at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on Friday, March 25. Also at the Guggenheim Museum but from a more local spectrum artist Liu Xiaodong (China) discusses his nostalgic journey to his hometown, as documented in Hou Hsiao-Hsien's latest film on Tuesday, March 29. 


Historical documentation comes center stage as we launch the much-celebrated chronicle of Indian art history-The KHOJ Book at Sotheby's on Tuesday, March 22 with Rashid Rana (Pakistan) and Pooja Sood (India). At China Institute on Tuesday, March 29, artist Xie Xiaoze will talk about his Chinese Library Series and its examination of the documentation of history and current events. The week closes on Thursday, March 31 with Asia Art Archive's new documentary film “From Jean Paul Sartre to Theresa Tang: Contemporary Cantonese Art in the 1980s” to be screened at Museum of Chinese in America followed by a conversation with featured artists Yang Jiechang and Zheng Shengtian.

Join us for these and many more Dialogues alongside exhibition openings and evening receptions all around town! For a complete agenda and locations, visit www.acaw.net


Participating Venues
Aperture Gallery // Asia Art Archive // Asian Cultural Council // Asia Society and Museum* // Bose Pacia* // China Institute* // Chambers Fine Art // Ethan Cohen Fine Arts* // Gallery Korea/Korean Cultural Service // Indo-American Arts Council // Jack Shainman Gallery* // Japan Society* // Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery* // Location One // Meulensteen // Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) // Museum of Modern Art* // Priska C. Juschka Fine Art // Queens Museum of Art // Rubin Museum of Art // sepia EYE* // Sotheby's // Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum* // Sundaram Tagore Gallery // Taipei Cultural Center // Tally Beck Contemporary // Thomas Erben Gallery* // Tyler Rollins Fine Art* // Zürcher Studio


*Directed by Leeza Ahmady, ACAW is an initiative of Asian Contemporary Art Consortium in association with Asia Society

Sponsors: Asian Cultural Council and Sotheby's

Media Sponsors: ArtAsiaPacific, artnet, and Art on Air