A Museum That is Not
11 September–30 October 2011
Free entry, closed on Mondays except for Holidays
Finissage:
15:30-16:00 October 30 Xiangqian Museum,
Performance by Hu Xiangqian
Guided Tour:
15:00–15:30, Every Sat. & Sun., Sep. 11 to Oct. 30, 2011Times Rose Garden III
Huangbianbei Road
Baiyun Avenue
Guangzhou, China
T (8620) 26272363
info [at] timesmuseum.org
www.timesmuseum.org
In reality, it is simply a deferred museum, so a deferred story based on this deferred museum may be subversive. It is not even “a museum” that is not, but a performative statement about any other museums that are not and will never be.
Participating Artists and Contributors:
ChART Contemporary, HomeShop, Hu Xiangqian, Liu Ding, Museum of American Art in Berlin, Museum of Unknown, Wilfredo Prieto, Wu Jie, Zhang Xiangxi
Curated by: Nikita, Yingqian Cai
A Museum That is Not sounds a bit like the all-too-familiar institutional critique. Albeit déjà vu as such doesn’t make much sense in this site-specific museum where the direct references are not the far away and abstract art system, but the bank next door, the shop nearby, the residential building where the museum resides and the restaurants across the street. In reality, it is simply a deferred museum, so a deferred story based on this deferred museum may be subversive. It is not even “a museum” that is not, but a performative statement about any other museums that are not and will never be. If we are to approach the museum with a sense of the unknown, then attention to empirical encounters is crucial. Pursuing this investigation in the form of an exhibition and series of events, and attempting to present these undefined motives and questions is the starting point of the reflective journey that is A Museum That is Not.
In order to create a series of unexpected encounters, everything about the idea of adventure is now brought back into play. The state of a museum or a non-museum and the reflections they elicit will be opened up for exploration by the public in the form of a journey. The settings will include the fully non-material, performative museum known as the “Xiangqian Museum” (Hu Xiangqian); a Museum of Unknown and an “Encounter” they create; a juxtaposition of a “Museum of Modern Art” that appeared out of nowhere (Museum of American Art in Berlin), and the empty implications of “Museum and Me” (Liu Ding); and last but not least, a discotheque on “Mute” (Wilfredo Prieto) that should not be there, like a black hole in the end of a story that absorbs expectations without releasing answers. For the seven weeks of the exhibition, the museum becomes an open “box,” with artist talks reaching out to university campuses, lectures by a suspiciously deceased philosopher, a film screening and tea party about museums, a workshop on a community newspaper and a half-day exhibition in a nearby shop will all take place at different times during this period. These events will persistently invite the public to revisit the museum and then turn their backs on it and forget all the nonsense about a museum with a few unresolved questions until the next time.
Lecture Series of “A Museum That is Not”
September 11
19:30–20:30
“The Unmaking of Art” by Walter Benjamin
20:30-21:30
Round Table Discussion
October 30
16:00-18:00
“A Museum of Museums” by Nav Haq
Open Studio Series of “A Museum That is Not”
September 11
Open Up the Box — A Room to be Shared, presented by Guangdong Times Museum Team
September 25
Museums on the Screen — A Senior Movie Fan in Conversation with a Curator, Wu Jie Nikita, Yingqian Cai
October 9
Make it Happen—News Day of The Yellow Side Daily, presented by HomeShop
October 23
Open House: Second Hand Shop, a new installation by Zhang Xiangxi ,curated by Megan & KC Vienna Connolly, produced by ChART Contemporary
Artist Talks by Hu Xiangqian, Liu Ding, Museum of Unknown and Wilfredo Prieto will be hosted between September 6 to 11 and in the end of October. Please see updated event details on our official website, Sina weibo, Douban or Facebook.
About Guangdong Times Museum
Guangdong Times Museum was founded during the D-Lab project in the 2nd Guangzhou Triennial and designed by Rem Koolhaas and Alain Fouraux. The Museum was registered as a non-profit institution and officially opened to the public by the end of 2010. Guangdong Times Museum is a conceptual achievement of the 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, its open attitude towards urban landscape and city life is manifested by the locality of the museum within a residential building and the Huangbian neighborhood. The Museum’s actualization reflects the unique conditions and fast-developing urbanization process of the Pearl River Delta.
Special Thanks to: Times Group Property
