The China Show

21 October 2006 to 7 January 2007

This exhibition explored the creative and cultural explosion that had just begun to shake Chinese cities as Communism loosened its grip, giving rise to new considerations of aspiration, image and identity, particularly by the younger generation.

While the world watched the global economy shift towards China, Chinese society begun to witness its own transformation take place as society’s emphasis shifted from the communal to the individual.

Fuelled by a runaway economy, China’s new generation became gripped with a newfound ability to design their individual lives, created through an emerging landscape of private apartments, new technologies, and personalised virtual spaces.

With this explosive shift in society, cities throughout China had begun to be transformed from communities formerly based on a collective identity to urban landscapes hosting a collection of private identities. New media, design, and lifestyle culture were replacing the mandates of centralized politics as aspiration and image became catchwords for what was already now referred to as the Chinese Dream.

The China Show explored how at different levels, this new Chinese society had begun to shape their personal lives and identities influenced by the emerging individualized culture of China.

Including work by leading Chinese creatives, The China Show featured everything from graphic design to fashion, graffiti, writers and bloggers to contemporary art and architecture. It featured tours of China’s radical new buildings, a street-level video exploring the changing cities of china and a look inside the mobile and blog cultures sweeping the country, The China Show, and as such offered a rare glimpse inside the shifting society of one of the world’s most influential nations.

Featured artists included:

Xing Danwen
Ou Ning
MeWe Design
Wang Yiyang

Listen here to an interview with chinese artist Xing Danwen

Download

XingDanwen Interview (PDF) by Mark Rainey in The Social at Urbis, Manchester, October 2006.

Media Release

The China Show.pdf – click here for The China Show’s media release

Customer Comments

“Great exhibition, shows how China REALLY is”

“Precisely the kind of exhibition Urbis should be presenting – relevant, instructive and thought-provoking issues pertaining to the built environment!”