Giving the landscape a green light

• Source: Global Times
• [09:54 August 10 2010]
• Comments

Two exhibits Angling on Low Island Photos: Courtesy of Himalayas Art Museum

The heated Chinese economy, with a GDP growth for long hovering above 10 percent, is encouraging for most Chinese but upsetting for some. Are there any hidden perils suggesting an unsustainable future looming behind the figures?

This question is at the core of the exhibition Updating China, organized by the Himalayas Art Museum and the Cultural and Education Section of the German General Consulate Shanghai, from September 5 to October 5.

The exhibition showcases 19 Chinese and German artists and architects, who, through their works, reflect on the themes of sustainable urban planning, eco-friendly architecture from the past to the future, social responsibility and low-cost construction and sustainability in art and culture.

Updating China is part of the series of events, "German and China - Moving Ahead Together," and an extension of Updating Germany, the German contribution to the XI Venice Architecture Biennale.

While Updating Germany involved only 100 architectural programs, Updating China adds the works of artists and architects.

"The multi-field involvement provides different angles for viewing the green philosophy," Shen Qibin, the director of the Himalayas Art Museum and the curator of Updating China told the Global Times in an exclusive interview. On the other hand, with the context changed from Germany to China, Chinese culture and values dominate.

"The Western approach to the green philosophy is always technological innovation. This method, though advanced, exposes a divided and split relationship between man and nature. Western culture suggests that man consumes nature and ecology. Chinese philosophy suggests that man is an integral part of nature, it is about reincarnation, that less is more and that the intangible defeats the tangible. This advocates a fusion between man and nature, man as a part of nature, not opposite to it," Shen said.

Social responsibility should be found in architects and designers. "Architects haven't done their jobs properly if they just put up a building. They should take the lead. They should remember they are not common laborers," Shen said.

That meant thinking differently about materials used in construction, for example.

"Whether the material is environmental-friendly, recyclable or sustainable or not should be a major concern," Shen added.

While architects are intimately connected to urbanization, artists have more freedom. "With the two combining in this exhibition, an effective critique of urbanization can be achieved," Shen said.

While Chinese culture typically features lute-playing, chess, calligraphy and painting, Updating China goes beyond this to include more social meanings, using silk and paintings to show the threats to mother nature, the green algae problem in Taihu Lake or desertification, for example.

"We hope this exhibition can be a catalyst to catch the attention of authorities and educate people as well. Then, hopefully, drastic changes can be made," Shen said, "at least, we've done our job as a responsible part of society."