Datang: Orientation of Places

Organizer: China Academy of Art, Zhejiang Art Museum, People’s Government of Datang Town
Hosted:Research Institute of Art Tapestry “Varbanov”, China Academy of Art 
Supporter: Think Tank of Hosiery WA Space 
Location: 5th and 6th exhibition hall, Zhejiang Art Museum
Opening: June 18th, 2015, 15:30

Artists: Huang Yan, Ying Xinxun, Zhang Jingfang, Ren Jie, Liu Jiajing, Luo Jinhua, Lu Jiangnan, Qun Qing Group, Li Shunyi,Liu Pan, Wang Xijing, Zhang Xiaoyu, Saskia Senge(German), Huang Danyang

Saskia Senge，Untitled，2015

HUANG Danyang，Datang，2014-2015

HUANG Yan，Space of Thread，2015

LI Shunyi，Maze: Red, Yellow, Blue，2015

LIU Jiajing，Small Places：Datang-Fanpai，2015

LIU Pan，I Wanna Talk with You Honestly，2015

LU Jiangnan, Internationale！，2015

LUO Jinhua，Untitled，2015

QUNQING GROUP，The Chain，2015

REN Jie，The Vanishing Weight，2015

WANG Xijing，Murmur of Days，2015

YING Xinxun，85 Degree Black，2015

ZHANG Xiaoyu，The Reality in the Magics，2015

ZHANG Qingfang，Road of the Children，2015

Located in the middle of Zhejiang Province and the Southwest of Zhuji County, Datang Town is in the intersection of Hangzhou—Jinhua expressway, Hangzhou—Jinhua—Qujiang expressway, Zhejiang—Jianxi Railway and Shaoxing—Datang highway. Weaved by these four transportations, Datang Town is home to all the historical resources it inherited from history and from the current changes and cultural resources. Built only for 27 years, as a small town in the south of Yangtze River, the construction and transition of its industries have attracted thousands of migrant workers. Under the current social development, all the small and medium sized cities like Datang Town have the same strong characteristic: swift and severe.

Since Research Institute of Art Tapestry “Varbanov” was founded in 2014, the workers have been to Datang Town to investigate on the local hosiery industry for many times. They went to various industries, workshops and markets and started their own art creations. Through the continuous observations and experiences, artists began to analyse the mystery regional spirit and temperament of Datang Town. From the origin of each pair of socks, they asked themselves: How the hosieries is embedded in our life? How our daily life is embedded in this complex production or industry?

Hosiery, the most modest textile on us, is the mainstay of Datang Town and through the way of individuals, groups, industries and super clusters, it has become the most important tool to shape this region. Through these pairs of socks, the action “Weave” has become a conception and has been injected into the vividly social reality. With the changes of technology and standardization, different forms of “weave” have become a kind of social actions which connect the industry with the region, time and art.

“Dimension and Direction” means both the orientation and the scale. It provides us a way to look outward and to look inward. This conception suggests that our vision and way to look at Datang Town are multiple. In this process, all the local situations being told are not reliable because each time we look at it, it is a new reflect. Because the occasional different perceptions, the meaningless daily life in Datang Town created a distinct and poetic situation and scene including all the people, objects, events and changes in it.

The operation of machines, move of threads, movements in the assembly line and the changes of technology, people and city – all these are weaved in the historical transitions of Datang Town and finally make up the decades of story. In such a dimension and direction, this exhibition re-set the local narrative capacity and the extensive future orientation. Here, the reality of Datang Town provides a colourful social scene for art and artists.

(We are very grateful for the supports from People’s Government of Datang Town and Think Tank of Hosiery WA Space to make this exhibition possible)