Guest Talk “一歩前へ take a step forward 行前一步”

Observing self-organization practices in the case of Guangzhou.
观察以广州为例的自组织实践

We will host a talk with artist/director Liang Jianhua (梁健华), based in Guangzhou, China. He will discuss the vibrant self-organized cultural practices in Guangzhou since the late 2010s, as well as his own space “HB Station.” He will also talk about the genealogy of self-organization in the context of contemporary Chinese art since the 1980s.

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About

In the art practice scene in Guangzhou, since 2016, young artists, curators, and activists have started to found independent spaces and self-organized practices, and have formed a mutual support network with practitioners in different cities in China. After the epidemic, the social atmosphere in China has become more austere, and at this time, as a practice strategy for this specific context, self-organized spaces accommodate the need for more public life, with the accompanying risks.

While it is easy to corroborate these practices today with Anarchic activities, social intervention art, and community practices in East Asian countries, if one looks at China’s Art Nouveau movement since the 1980s, one can see an intermittent vein. It encompasses the action strategies chosen by art practitioners in the two different phases of the Art Nouveau movement, and by comparing these strategies, I hope to provide us with a clearer understanding of the semi-legitimate identity of Chinese contemporary art in today’s public life, as well as the resulting special situation and self-organized practice as a coping strategy.

在广州的艺术实践现场中，自2016年开始，年轻艺术家、策展人、行动者开始创办独立空间及自组织实践，并和国内不同城市的实践者构成了一个互助网络。疫情后，国内社会气氛更加紧缩，此时作为针对这特有语境的实践策略，自组织空间容纳了更多公共生活的需求，同时也伴随着风险。

今天这些实践很容易与东亚各国的安那其活动、社会介入艺术和社群实践互为印证，但如果从中国自80年代新艺术运动开始梳理，可以看到一条时隐时现的脉络。它包含了艺术从业者在新艺术运动两个不同阶段中选取的行动策略，我希望通过对比这些策略，让我们更清晰地理解中国当代艺术在今天公共生活中的半合法身份，以及由此带来的特殊处境，和作为应对策略的自组织实践。

Liang Jianhua, artist and director of Guangzhou’s nonprofit space HB Station

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Date: October 3, 2023 (Tuesday) 18:00-20:00
Venue: Ueno Campus, University Hall 2nd Floor, GSC Lecture Room
Language: English
Speaker: Liang Jianhua (Artist, Director of HB Station)
Moderator: Yoshitaka Mouri (Professor, Graduate School of Global Arts)
Host: Kenichiro Egami (Project Assistant Professor, Global Support Center)