Between past and future : new photography and video from China This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of photography and video from China since the mid 1990s and the first major showing of contemporary Chinese art at a UK venue. Showcasing works by 39 artists - many of whom have not exhibited in the UK before - it will introduce the activities of experimental Chinese artists and through them provide intriguing insights into life in today's China. For the past two decades, China has undergone remarkable economic, social and cultural transformations. These changes have shaped the development of experimental art. Using media ranging from painting and sculpture to video and photography, China's experimental artists have explored the dynamics of emerging modernity in a country where the forces of tradition still retain enormous power. Photography and video have become increasingly important means of individual expression and are now central to contemporary Chinese art. In many ways, the versatility and instantaneous nature of these media have become synonymous with the rapidity of change in China. This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of photography and video from China since the mid 1990s and the first major showing of contemporary Chinese art at a UK venue. Showcasing works by 39 artists - many of whom have not exhibited in the UK before - it will introduce the activities of experimental Chinese artists and through them provide intriguing insights into life in today's China. For the past two decades, China has undergone remarkable economic, social and cultural transformations. These changes have shaped the development of experimental art. Using media ranging from painting and sculpture to video and photography, China's experimental artists have explored the dynamics of emerging modernity in a country where the forces of tradition still retain enormous power. Photography and video have become increasingly important means of individual expression and are now central to contemporary Chinese art. In many ways, the versatility and instantaneous nature of these media have become synonymous with the rapidity of change in China. Photography was largely reduced to a propaganda tool during the first thirty years of the People's Republic, but from the 1980s artists began explore the medium's expressive potential. In the mid-1990s, Chinese photography and video entered a new phase of non-stop invention, abundant production, multifaceted experimentation and cross-fertilization with other art forms. The exhibition centres on this most recent and exciting phase of photo- and video-based art in China and is structured around four thematic sections: - History and Memory - Performing the Self - Re-Imagining the Body - People and Place Credit "Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China" was organised by the International Center of Photography, New York, and the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, in collaboration with the Asia Society, New York, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. The exhibition received major funding from The Smart Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, as well as generous support from other donors. © Vin Xuizhen Galerie d'images : 1- © Yang Yong 2- © Hai Bo