Internationally celebrated curator Hans Ulrich Obrist is often asked about the future of art. His answer is always that we have to listen to artists. Since 2005, Obrist has expanded this narrative to ask not only artists but also writers, architects, mathematicians, scientists, poets, photographers, designers, novelists, professors, lawyers, actors, and philosophers to complete the sentence, “The future will be…,” resulting in a range of different readings on what lies ahead. The first in a series of publications, the China Edition of The future will be… is a collection of answers to Obrist’s question from protagonists working in China, and encourages readers to delve into the futuristic imaginings of a profoundly complex society.
Co-published by the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli and the Ullens Contemporary Center of Art, this bi-lingual publication will be launched during ART HK 12 in May at the Asia Society in Hong Kong.
The China Edition of The future will be… began in Turin in 2010, when the Pinacoteca Agnelli, as part of its programme of exhibiting private collections, invited the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo to exhibit its collection of contemporary Chinese art by hosting the fourth iteration of China Power Station. Initially organised by the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2006, China Power Station was curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Julia Peyton-Jones, Director of the Serpentine Gallery in London, and Gunnar B. Kvaran, Director of the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo.
As part of the public programme accompanying the show, Ginevra Elkann, today the President of the Pinacoteca Agnelli, and Obrist invited a new generation of Chinese artists to Turin for a marathon talk on the future of China produced with Philip Tinari, now Director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art.
The resulting publication includes contributions from 115 artists, architects, practitioners, and thinkers, including Ai Weiwei, Daniel A. Bell, Cai Guo-Qiang, Cao Fei, Yung Ho Chang, Chen Man, Chen Zhou, Heman Chong, Chu Yun, Ding Yi, Duan Jianyu, Frank Gehry, Gu Dexin, Zaha Hadid, Hu Xiaoyuan, Huang Yong Ping, Yun-Fei Ji, Jia Zhangke, Liu Xiaodong, Liu Wei, Thomas Shao, Not Vital, Wang Shu, Yan Lei, Yan Xing, Yang Fudong, Zhang Enli, and Zheng Guogu.
Book Launch Details
16 May 2012, 12–2pm
Asia Society Hong Kong
9 Justice Drive, Admiralty
The Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) host a panel discussion at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center on the occasion of the launch of the bilingual Chinese and English co-publication The future will be… China Edition, the first book in a series curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist (Co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects, Serpentine Gallery).
The panel, moderated by Melissa Chiu (Senior Vice President for Global Arts and Culture Programs, Asia Society; Director, Asia Society Museum), will include Obrist alongside artists Wang Jianwei and Xu Zhen. The event is open to the public.
www.pinacoteca-agnelli.it
www.ucca.org.cn
www.asiasociety.org.hk
