Times Art Center Berlin (TACB), a new experimental space for contemporary art from China in Berlin, will open to the public on 30 November 2018.

Panel Discussion 
Video in the Pearl River Delta: An Eye Opener
with HOU Hanru, David ELLIOT, and Anselm FRANKE
6:00 – 7:00 pm

Performance 
Rehearsal of the Futures: Police Training Exercises (Part 1)
by Isaac CHONG Wai
Performers: Katherine Leung, Manuel Lindner, Imola Nagy, Nobutaka Shomura
7:30 – 9:00 pm

In its inaugural three-part exhibition, Times Art Center Berlin will present a vital component of the Chinese art world which remains lesser known to international audiences and is under-represented on the global art scene, namely the contemporary art production from the Pearl River Delta (PRD). A highly specific region of China with its distinct cultural characteristics and traditions, the PRD has been closely related to international influences and interwoven with popular culture from the beginning. Frequent exchanges between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, the impacts of Hong Kong’s popular culture, film, television and pop music concerning visual culture, coupled with a sensitivity for and references to international new media art, led to rapid experimentation in video art across the entire PRD.

By adopting the medium of moving images, artists from the PRD are looking for freedom and forms of resistance against dominant ideology and powers, turning ordinary gestures into artistic strategies to construct diverse “personal utopias”. Their video practices represent the most ground-breaking and powerful visions of contemporary art and culture in the PRD. As a result, the PRD has become a creative hub for international exchange and art activities, as well as a deviating model which inspires artists from other region.

In recent years, contemporary art created in China, by artists both from China and abroad, has become a major part of the global art scene. Now, the time has come to reflect this progression in Berlin. As an associated organisation of the renowned Guangdong Times Museum, in Guangzhou in southern China, Times Art Center Berlin (TACB) was established with that mission in mind. It is the first time an independent Asia-based art museum has founded a parallel institution abroad. As a non-profit art institution, TACB aims at facilitating cultural conversations between Asia and Europe through collaborations with artists, curators, intellectuals and institutions based in Berlin. TACB operates as an independent and autonomous organisation and will produce a series of exhibitions, research projects, commissions, screenings, discursive events, artist residencies and publications. As an experimental space and research-oriented platform, it hopes to add a voice from the Global Souths to Berlin’s vibrant artistic scenes. Its inaugural exhibition is part of the Operation PRD curatorial framework following the exhibition Big Tale Elephants. The exhibition presents 58 artists and features more than 80 artworks.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

EPISODE I: Urban Explosion
01.12.2018 - 12.01.2019

ART JONES, CAO Fei, CHAN Chui Hing Nose, CHEN Shaoxiong, CHEN Tong, CHOW Chun Fai, HO Tzu Nyen, HUANG Weikai, JIANG Zhi, LIANG Juhui, LIN Yilin, LIU Chuang, OU Ning, João Vasco PAIVA, Ellen PAU, SONG Ta, TANG Kwok Hin, TSANG Kin-Wah, Morgan WONG, WONG Ping, WONG Wing Sang
 

EPISODE II: Towards Autonomy
18.01.2019 - 23.02.2019

CHEN Shaoxiong, CHEN Tong, CHENG Chi Lai Howard, Isaac CHONG Wai, Simon DENNY, HUANG Xiaopeng, KWAN Sheung-Chi, Linda LAI, Warren LEUNG Chi-Wo, LI Liao, LIN Yilin, LIU Chuang, Phoebe Ching Ying MAN, PAK Sheung-Chuen, Eric SIU, SONG Ta, Rirkrit TIRAVANIJA & Philippe PARRENO, TSANG Kin-Wah, YANG Yong, Samson YOUNG, Ming WONG, WONG Ping, ZHOU Tao

EPISODE III: The Politics of the Self
01.03.2019 - 13.04.2019

ALLORA & CALZADILLA, CAO Fei, CHEN Shaoxiong, CHOI Sai-Ho, FANG Lu, May FUNG, HO Sin Tung, KWAN Sheung-Chi, Jo LAW, LI Xiaofei, Natalie LO Lai Lai, Anson MAK Hoi Shan, MAP OFFICE, QIN Jin, SHI Qing, Koki TANAKA, Jalal TOUFIC & Graziella Rizkallah TOUFIC, WONG Wai Yin, XU Tan, ZHU Jianlin