The China Project

300 2000 Crackdown on official corruption intensifies. Cheng Kejie, the former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, is executed for taking bribes. ‘The Third Shanghai Biennale’ expands to include international art, and foregrounds contemporary art forms over painting and sculpture, demonstrating the growing official acceptance of experimental art. Artists using animal and human body parts gain widespread attention, featuring in the exhibitions ‘Indulge in Pain’ (Beijing) and ‘Fuck Off’ (Shanghai). This generates discussion at the National People’s Congress meeting the following year and, along with performances including nudity and self-mutilation, such work is declared illegal. ShanghART is the first Chinese gallery to participate in the Basel Art Fair in Switzerland. 2001 A mid-air collision between a Chinese fighter and an American spy plane is followed by the detainment of the American crew, leading to a diplomatic stand-off with the United States. China carries out military exercises simulating the invasion of Taiwan, while Taiwan tests its defence capabilities. China joins the World Trade Organisation. ‘Towards A New Image: 20 Years of Contemporary Chinese Painting’ is the first exhibition of avant-garde art to be held at NAMOC since 1989. Cai Guo-Qiang designs the fireworks display for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Shanghai. ‘Words Without Meaning, Meaning Without Words: The Art of Xu Bing’ opens at the Arthur M Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. 2002 George W Bush is the first United States President to visit China since Nixon, on the 30th anniversary of Nixon’s visit. Hu Jintao replaces Jiang Zemin as head of the CCP in November, and as President in March the following year. ‘The Long March Project: A Walking Visual Display’ takes place along the Long March route between Jiangsu Province and Sichuan Province. It features site-specific works and performances by 80 artists. ‘The First Guangzhou Triennial’ opens, presenting an overview of Chinese experimental art from the 1990s. ‘APT 2002: Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ features the work of Song Dong. ‘Paris–Pékin’, featuring works from the collection of Belgian industrialists Baron Guy and Myriam Ullens, opens at Espace Cardin, Paris. It is one of the first major retrospectives of Chinese contemporary art in Europe. The survey exhibition ‘Chen Zhen: Inner Body Landscapes’ opens at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art is launched in Vancouver. 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus breaks out in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in March. Strict quarantine measures are enforced over the next three months. Around 500 000 people march in Hong Kong against the anti-subversion bill Article 23. Two Hong Kong government officials resign and the bill is shelved. President Hu Jintao is the first Asian leader to address Australia’s federal parliament. Yang Liwei is the first Chinese man sent into space. The Dashanzi art district in Beijing, also known as 798, which includes artist studios and galleries, gains wide attention through a series of exhibitions, including the ‘First Beijing Biennale’. The Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, the first publicly funded contemporary art museum in China opens. The Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong, established in 2000, opens to the public. ‘Alors, la Chine?’, a major survey of Chinese contemporary art, opens at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, as part of the French Year of China. 2004 China’s average economic growth rate is 10 per cent per year during the period 1990–2004, the highest in the world. Christie’s and Sotheby’s hold their first contemporary Asian art auctions in Hong Kong. 2005 Widespread anti-Japanese protests erupt over a Japanese textbook, which is claimed to gloss over Japan’s World War Two record, souring China–Japan relations. The leader of Taiwan’s National Party, Lien Chan, visits China for the first meeting between Nationalist and CCP leaders since 1949. The first direct flights between China and Taiwan since 1949 are chartered for Chinese New Year. China’s first official pavilion opens at the Venice Biennale, with an exhibition curated by Cai Guo-Qiang. ‘The Wall: Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art’ opens at the Millennium Art Museum, Beijing, later touring to Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York. The exhibition focuses on the development of Chinese conceptual art. ‘Mahjong’, an exhibition of contemporary Chinese art from the collection of ex-Swiss ambassador to China Uli Sigg, opens at Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland, before touring to Europe and the United States. 2006 Official reports state that 18 million people are affected by China’s worst drought in 50 years. The government admits that pollution has degraded China’s environment, threatening health and social stability. African heads of state meet in Beijing for a China–Africa summit, where US$2 billion in deals are signed and China promises billions of dollars in loans and credits. Hu Jiantao tours eight African countries the following year. ‘China Power Station’, a major exhibition of Chinese art and architecture organised by the Serpentine Gallery, London, opens at the Battersea Power Station. ‘The 5th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT5) features four Chinese artists and filmmakers as well as nine artists from the Long March Project. Sotheby’s first New York auction of contemporary Asian art, dominated by Chinese artists, totals US$13 million. In two years these figures are doubled.