As one of the brand exhibitions of CAFA Art Museum, “The Beijing Photo Biennial” has been held twice successfully with themes of “Aura and Post-Aura” and “Unfamiliar Asia”. They started respectively from the essence of photography and the political nature it carried, around the issues about contemporary photography, to develop, research, select and present the most representative international photography works, and received wide attention and recognition. Based on the precious experience accumulated in the previous two biennials, CAFA Art Museum began to organize the Third Beijing Photo Biennial, with the theme of “Confusing Public and Private”, aiming to re-open the hidden space dimension of photography and explore the social issues within it.
Zhang Zikang
Director of CAFA Art Museum
Poster of the First Beijing Photo Biennial in 2013
Site photos of the First Beijing Photo Biennial in 2013
Poster of the Second Beijing Photo Biennial in 2015
Site photos of the Second Beijing Photo Biennial in 2015
This exhibition is divided into twelve chapters, from the behavior of “peeking” and “watching”, to explore the subtle connection between “the private” and “the public” of photographic images. Each chapter seems like a galaxy and finally constitute a complete constellation picture after professional curation. Within the picture, the exhibition not only discusses the photography itself – for example, the gazing issue of photography that has been long contemplated, and discussions regarding rights brought by techniques of photography; but also put photography in a grander social and historical context – in a gradually dense and powerful network system in which the boundary of the private and the public domain become harder to distinguish, what role does photography play and what is the effect?
Site photos of the Third Beijing Photo Biennial held in CAFA Art Museum
Since photography was invented, its unique technology and media attribute have enabled it to have the ability to record and produce images, giving photography a kind of anti-elite quality, which is also the reason that photography differs from other art forms and can keep its independence. No matter how people emphasize photography’s artistry, it remains an essential media for visual expression and is widely applied in various fields and disciplines through a long time span. With the development of technology and media, particularly after the popularization of the mobile phone and internet, photos can be seen everywhere, and thus we enter an “image-explosion” era, overwhelmed by outpouring images every day. If McLuhan believes that media is the extension of the human body, then photography is everywhere to support, repair and extend our lives. Under the current context, the definition of photography becomes more generalized and diversified. Especially for the artist, it has grown out of the two-dimensional scope of “documentary” and “aesthetics” for a long time, and the images produced by it continually change the boundary of the private and the public. This kind of vague boundary updates our understanding of photography while leading us to discussions of our social spaces.
“The private” and “the public” that embodied and generated by photography, essentially, are a conflict between the private and the public that brought by images in social space and discourse space. On the one hand, since portable camera and mobile terminal appeared because of technology, photography has been labeled as “democratic” and can record and share at any time. On the other hand, however, this kind of democracy is open to discussion: for instance, in the process of producing and spreading images, how people make sure if their privacy is not violated? Then, just like the boundary between the private and the public is indistinguishable, so do the boundaries between “recording” and “peeking”, “the real” and “the virtual”.
Site photos of the Third Beijing Photo Biennial held in CAFA Art Museum
In the exhibition, participant artists use photography as a tool to keep digging above issues and a series of new discussions are introduced: especially in a new era, how does photography exist in the present time? How does it affect current society? What kind of information does it bring to us and what is it? This year’s biennial invited nearly a hundred artists, covering both internationally renowned artist, such as Robert Frank and Candida Höfer, and new generations of young artists from around the world. In the contemporary context, they create works to reflect the reality and push forward the development of photographic languages and ideas through the way of photography, so as to bring about a new image revolution.
Although the exhibition is divided into different sections, each section is not entirely independent, and they are connected by a historical line and the social context. We hope to use this way to present the theme of the exhibition in a broader perspective, that is, start from photography to open more opportunities to rethink of “the private” and “the public” in society. As a university art museum, we hope that this biennial could involve ourselves in sorting out the development history of international photography and promoting the development of contemporary photography, continuing to provide photography more vast space for creations and academic discussion spaces.
Berna Reale, Palomo, 2012
Cristinade Middel and Bruno Morais, Midnight at the Crossroad 007, 2016, 50 × 66.3 cm
Wolfgang Laib, Milk and Stone, 1987, photo
Richard Mosse, Incoming, 2014 – 2017, 52m 10s, three-channel HD video, 7.3-channel surround sound
Viviane Sassen, Sisters, 2008, 120x 150cm, version 5 + 2AP
Eva O’Leary, Hannah, 2017,54.6 × 68.8 cm, Ultra Giclee on Conson Fine Baryta paper
Robert Frank, Don’t Blink, 2015, Film, 82m
Mário Macilau, The Price of the Cement, 2013, 80 × 53 cm
Cixi, Empress Dowager of China, 1835-1908, Photographs, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Purchase, (FSA A.13 SC-GR-243)
Léonard Pongo, Unbelievable
Shizuka Yokomizo, Stranger series (1998-2000)
Joan Fontcuberta, Icon Helmet’s Exploration Training at Night, 2018
Weronika Gęsicka, Untitled 2, Trace series, 2016
Confusing Public and Private: The Third Beijing Photo Biennial
Host: CAFA Art Museum
Organizers: The Curatorial Committee of the 2018 Beizhen International Photography Festival
Venue: The Cultural Industry Center (Beizhen, Liaoning), CAFA Art Museum (1F and Gallery C,2F)
Dates: September 28 – October 28, 2018 (Beizhen)
October 1- November 4, 2018 (Beijing)
Opening: 19:00, September 28, 2018, Beizhen Temple in Qifu Square, Niaoning
General Adviser: Fan Di’an (China)
Exhibition Director: Wang Huangsheng (China), Zhang Zikang (China)
Curatorial Team: Hans De Wolf (Belgium), Cai Meng (China), Ângela Ferreira (Portugal), He Yining (China)
Space Design: Sun Hua, Huang Shu, Bo Lin, Zhao Yifeng, Feng Yu
Exhibition Coordination: Gao Gao, Yi Yue
Assistant Team: Huo Dandi, Cai Xinyuan, Deng Yao, Catelyn Welbeck, Du Lin, Chen Menglan, Hu Xiao, Zhu Jiacheng, Su Ji
Display Device Support: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd
Output Support: Flying Fish Co., Ltd
Archive Support: Jiazuo Bookstore
Publication support: Art Media Resources