10th Asian Art Festival Exhibition Division Goro Suzuki Exhibition
From September 30th to October 12th, 2008 Zhengzhou Art Museum (Capital of Henan Province)
(Sponsored by Zhengzhou Art Museum, China; cooperation with Beijing Shinyudo Consultant)
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He was invited to participate in the 10th Asian Art Festival Exhibition Division” and held theGoro Suzuki Sculpture Exhibition” at the Zhengzhou Art Museum (capital of Henan Province: 6 million people) from September 30th to October 12th, 2008. I did. We received a report from the museum that there were more than 10,000 visitors during the period due to sunny skies. This is the first sculpture at our art museum.As this is an international exhibition, there will be media coverage (TV, newspapers, radio, and web) during the opening ceremony and throughout the period, and there will be many visitors, from infants to the elderly, and we will be able to interact with them in various ways. was completed.
The national character of the Chinese people is similar to that of the West, and when they see an author, they actively talk to them and ask questions. As with the previous French exhibition, I was busy being escorted around the venue. During the exhibition, we held two clay workshops (one for elementary school students and one for university students), which must have been unusual. It was also the front page article in the newspaper.
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At the opening, I was surprised to see interviews from various TV companies.
That must have been a rare occurrence.
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October 2008 China Exhibition Record (Episode) Goro Suzuki
I was invited to participate in the exhibition section of the 10th China Asian Art Festival and held an exhibition at the Zhengzhou Art Museum. Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan Province (population: 6 million) and was a much larger city than I expected. It was my largest solo exhibition, with 19 bronzes, 36 terracotta, 30 drawings, and 10 exhibition panels exhibited at a venue of approximately 640 square meters (3 exhibition rooms and an entrance room). Especially for the terracotta venue, in response to a request for black walls, we were able to make the entire area pitch black and use it for spot lighting. I was surprised to find that the decorative stand was made to the dimensions requested, and the colors were terracotta, black, bronze, and grey, and a magnificent 137-page illustrated catalog had been published.
*I saw the reality that in China, anything you do is fuzzy and “if you don’t get it right, it won’t work…” The terracotta venue was 260 square meters, but the work to make the walls black was done the day before. Moreover, the work that was scheduled to arrive five days ago did not arrive until the day before the opening, and around 11:00 a.m., I received a call saying that I had just crossed the Yellow River, and it finally arrived at 3:00 p.m. It took until 23:00 to unpack, arrange the decorations, place the pedestals, and display the works. Whenever I go to a place I hear of, they are always in such conditions, working all night using human wave tactics. Following the director’s words, “Don’t worry, we’ll make it in time for the opening ceremony…” We returned to the hotel at 23:00.
*Indeed, when I went there the next day at 9:00, it was completely completed, with a huge sign, flowers, and a red carpet, creating a gorgeous venue. As I waited in the waiting room, there was a 9:30 pick-up. When I went out to the entrance, I saw a large number of people crowding in front of the several-step high entrance. There was a tape-cutting ceremony for nine people on a stage decorated with flowers and signs. It was ready. The weather was beautiful and the atmosphere was lively. The ceremony started exactly on time. First, the representative from the country gave an greeting, and I gave a speech, followed by the governor and mayor. While I was perplexed by the unexpected and exaggerated turn of events, the tape cut began and the cut ended with music. Suddenly, golden “confetti” flew up from both sleeves with great force, and I was truly shocked. China seems to like flashy things like this.
*In China, the word sculpture seems to conjure up images of “monuments,” and the general public seemed to feel an affinity for the small terracotta works. Indeed, there was a 32m stainless steel monument standing in the middle of the city, and along with the buildings, it gave me the impression that a lot of effort was put into the hardware aspect. Although the museum is a splendid building with a lot of money spent on it, I got the impression that there was no curator and there were almost no works in the collection. I have been influenced a lot by ancient works from China and other parts of the East, but I got the impression that in China, the influence of Soviet sculpture was strong, and the sculptures turned out to be gigantic and highly propaganda-oriented.
*In China, it seems to be the national trait that “you put your money where your mouth is,” and it seems that the higher authorities will examine the monuments and provide money for them. Therefore, it seems that no matter how much an artist wants to create a work that is more personal than artistic, it may not be possible to create one. That said, a sculpture park and other facilities are being planned, and the vice mayor said he would like me to participate if the opportunity arises.
*Before I went, I was most concerned about how my work would be received by the general public! ? That’s what I was saying. However, the general public was frank and open-minded, and just like at the exhibition in France, they were very active, talking to the artists and asking questions when they saw them. On the first day, there were many adults, but gradually the number of elementary, middle school, high school and university students started sketching and taking photos of their works. When I left a memo/notebook saying “Tamegen”, messages were written one after another, and even elementary school students came in to share their thoughts. I was surprised to see that my notebook was immediately gone. I couldn’t understand the content because it was in Chinese, but I could tell from their expressions and words that they liked it.
*On the first day, there were a lot of media (TV, radio, newspapers, internet, etc.) and there was a TV interview, but I was moved by the sight of an elementary school girl talking profusely to the TV camera next to me. Ta. This is probably where the changes of the times begin. After that, there was strong media interest in the workshop, and one newspaper featured it in its front page article, making everyone involved happy.
*Workshops using clay were held twice during the exhibition (for elementary school students and university students). This was so well received that over 40 people participated, exceeding the limit of 20 people. There were even adults diving inside, which made me smile. In particular, he spoke to university students about “space in sculpture” and made it their subject. The interpreter was a local university student, which was a bit frustrating, but there were many interesting works. At the end, when I was asked, “Did you have fun?”, I was happy to hear that all of them answered in unison, “Hen Gao Xin (It was a lot of fun).”
*During the event, I went to the venue for about 1 to 2 hours in the morning and afternoon on days when I was free, but no matter what time I went, there were a lot of people coming in, and the number of repeat visitors was increasing. Going there was an experience like no other. When I asked the museum director how many people entered the museum on the last day, he didn’t seem to be counting the number of visitors, but he said, “My lowest estimate is 800 people a day, and my highest estimate is around 1,300…” There were many uniformed security guards stationed inside the venue, making sure that people did not touch the works.
*There were two things I couldn’t understand. In one case, the sale of a catalog I had put together was canceled after a few days, but according to what I heard, It’s no good because the museum sold something that the government paid for and made without permission…” That’s what I said, but I don’t know the truth. Maybe there aren’t enough left. In any case, it seemed like the customer’s intentions were unthinkable. Another point was that the exhibition scheduled to take place after this at the Shenzhen Museum of Art was suddenly cancelled. I asked various questions, but the only explanation I got was,…a major accident at a music-related event in Shenzhen resulted in the deaths of over 40 people, so cultural events have been canceled.” Both of these things were unthinkable in Japan, and I couldn’t accept them. As a result, I was extremely fatigued and was saved by the cancellation of the event at the Shenzhen Art Museum, but…
*The area around Zhengzhou, including the Yellow River, was often referred to as “Central Plain” (Note), but the museum in the city exhibits cultural heritage from thousands of years ago, and this place is a popular tourist destination. It was the first time. Are Chinese people hungry for this kind of culture now? I think a big factor was that October 1st was National Day (30th anniversary of reform and opening up), and there was a one-week holiday.
*Other than exhibitions, buildings and other physical aspects were being constructed at a tremendous rate, but the public consciousness (mentally and psychologically) was still unable to keep up with the changes in the environment, and traffic manners were extremely poor. Crossing the road takes a lot of nerve, as there are many cases of ignoring red lights and forcibly cutting in. My surprising impression was that there were so many electric bikes, and although I was there for three weeks, I only saw a few gasoline bikes. The blue autumn sky was a big difference from the previous environment. Could this also be an Olympic effect?
However, the residents were friendly and often spoke to them with simple smiles.” I didn’t feel any of theanti-Japanese sentiment” that is commonly referred to. Early in the morning, they practice tai chi and erhu (drum bow) in a nearby park, and they interact peacefully. I could feel the breath of a new China from this place.
Note: Areas north and south of the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the origin of Chinese culture, namely Henan, most of Shandong and Shanxi, and some areas of Hebei and Shaanxi.