Asia Contemporary Art Week New York
October 28–November 8, 2015
ACAW kicks off its 10th edition on October 28, 2015 with citywide exhibitions, receptions, performances, screenings and other evening festivities, alongside two ACAW signature programs: Lee Mingwei’s Sonic Blossom at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 30 to November 8, and FIELD MEETING Take 3: Thinking Performance, October 31 and November 1.
In collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, ACAW presents Lee Mingwei’s Sonic Blossom, opening Friday, October 30 with a special VIP event on October 29. On view through November 8, the exhibition will transform The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Blanche and A. L. Levine Court and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery into an intimate stage with personalized performances of Schubert’s Lieder by professional New York vocalists.
Lee’s concept for this performance-exhibition grew from his emotional connection to Franz Schubert’s music as a contemplative sanctuary, and his desire to reframe and share that experience. In the Met’s galleries, professional singers in custom-designed costumes will approach individual members of the public and inquire: “May I give you a gift of song?” Those who accept will be seated for a short personal performance.
Lee Mingwei (born in Taiwan; living in New York, Paris, and Taipei) creates participatory installations where strangers can explore issues of trust, intimacy and self-awareness, often via one-on-one events. In past works, members of the public have contemplated these emotions and connections with the artist through eating, sleeping, walking and conversation. Lee’s projects are often open-ended scenarios for everyday interaction. They take on different and unpredictable forms with the involvement of participants, and change during the course of an exhibition. The viewers/participants engage in the active merging of public and personal space, a rare experience in a museum or a concert hall.
In addition to Sonic Blossom, ACAW presents its signature program FIELD MEETING Take 3: Thinking Performance, an exclusive art forum staging performances, talks and discussions with over 30 keynote figures. Continuing FIELD MEETING‘s unique approach in providing an open platform for direct interaction between artists and audience, Thinking Performance foregrounds the multiplicity and critical role of performance work coming out of the context of Asia. In relationship to activism, ethics, body, tradition, writing and collective experience, Thinking Performance focuses on individual artists’ current practices while taking into consideration their dynamic relationship with historical discourses and social and political conditions. More importantly in the realm of this expanding field, Thinking Performance invites broader, more nuanced interpretations of performance work and fresh understandings of performativity in artistic production at large. Speakers include the New York Times Critic Holland Cotter and Director of the Witte de With Center Defne Ayas, among others.
Directed by Leeza Ahmady, each edition of ACAW brings together a broad alliance of leading institutions to present cutting-edge exhibitions, innovative projects, networking opportunities and provocative dialogues to contextualize and expand visibility for artistic practices taking place in Asia within the United States.
Consortium members & participating institutions:
Asia Society Museum / Asia Art Archive in America / China Institute / Japan Society / The Metropolitan Museum of Art / MoMA | Museum of Modern Art / Queens Museum / Rubin Museum of Art / Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum / Twelve Gates Arts / +91 Foundation / Aicon Gallery / Art Projects International / Chambers Fine Art / Doosan Gallery / Jane Lombard Gallery / Owen James Gallery / Ronin Gallery / Sundaram Tagore Gallery / Tyler Rollins Fine Art / Aike-Dellarco Gallery (Shanghai) / Alserkal Avenue (Dubai) / Chi-Wen Gallery (Taipei) / Double Fly Art Center (Beijing) / Edouard Malingue Gallery (Hong Kong) / Exhibit320 (New Delhi) / Galeri Zilberman (Istanbul) / Ink Studio (Beijing) / Pi Artworks (Istanbul & London) / Platform Projects (Singapore) / Total Arts (Dubai)
For more information on ACAW 2015 exhibitions, programs and FIELD MEETING updates, visit www.acaw.info.
For press inquiries contact: Asia Contemporary Art Week (ACAW)
T +1 646 416 6454 / F +1 646 590 0066 / acawpr [at] asiasociety.org
