Canton Express

Canton Express (廣東快車) was an exhibition curated by Hou Hanru in 2003. The exhibition was part of Z.O.U. — Zone of Urgency at the 50th Venice Biennale and was exhibited in the Arsenale in Venice. The exhibition contained works from four artist groups and was the first time artists from the Pearl River Delta region of China participated in a major international event. It was a reflection on the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the region throughout the 1980s and 1990s.[1]

Canton Express
Traditional Chinese廣東快車
Simplified Chinese广东快车

According to participating artist Zheng Guogu, who was also responsible for the logistics, works had to be smuggled out of China as trade shipments and the artists had to travel via Hong Kong, Thailand and France to get to Venice. This was due to the SARS outbreak which meant strict quarantine laws and travel restrictions were in place in Hong Kong and Mainland China at the time.[2]

Participating artist groups
  • The Big Tail Elephant Group - Chen Shaoxiong (陳劭雄), Liang Juhui (-梁鉅輝), Lin Yilin (林一林), Xu Tan (徐坦) and Jin Jiangbo (金江波)
  • Borges Libreria (博爾赫斯書店) – Chen Tong (陳侗) and Yu LI, Feng Qianyu (馮倩鈺)
  • U – Theque – Duan Jianyu (段建宇), Liu Heng (劉珩), Jiang Zhi (蔣志), Yang Jiechang (楊詰蒼), Yang Yong (楊勇)
  • Yangjiang Youth – Feng Qianyu (馮倩鈺), Sha Yeya (沙業亞), Zheng Guogu (鄭國谷)

Canton Express at the M+, West Kowloon Cultural District

After the initial exhibition all works were purchased by Chinese collector Guan Yi who covered the cost of shipping the works back to China.[2] In 2014 Yi donated the collection to M+, Hong Kong's museum of visual culture.[3] Between 23.06.2017 and 10.09.2017 elements of the original Canton Express exhibition were re-staged at the M+ Pavilion, a temporary building at the West Kowloon Cultural District area in Hong Kong. The curator was Pi Li[4] with conservation work undertaken by M+’s internal conservation team.[5]

References
  1. "David Barrett > Collected Articles > Art Monthly > 50th Venice Biennale - Review". www.david-barrett.com.
  2. "The artists who smuggled their exhibition out of China to Venice". South China Morning Post. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  3. "West Kowloon Cultural District - M+ receives major donation of 37 works from Chinese art collector, Guan Yi Representing the strong backing from the arts community". webcache.googleusercontent.com.
  4. "Canton Express | 23.06.2017 - 10.09.2017 | M+ Pavilion, West Kowloon Cultural District". www.westkowloon.hk.
  5. "Explore - M+ Stories". stories.mplus.org.hk.
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