Statement
The title of the China pavilion's first exhibition Virgin Garden: Emersion, taken from the name of the pavilion site, represents the induction of China in the Venice Biennale with Romantic symbolism, and three curatorial themes. First, Emersion embodies the diverse zeitgeist rising from rapid change and development in Chinese society. Second, Emersion speaks to the displacement or re-location of China's distinct political, economic and cultural influences onto an international arena. Finally, Emersion is the process by which the evolving face of Chinese contemporary artistic practice will emerge from behind prevailing western stereotypes.

The inaugural China pavilion inhabits two adjacent spaces; the interior presents a video installation by Xu Zhen and a light installation by Liu Wei. These two works focus on the human psychological response to fleeting, chance stimulation, while articulating the point of collision between the internal domain of the human psyche and the public dynamics in a society. The adjacent outdoor space features three works, all of which marry traditional Chinese culture and the groundbreaking exploration inherent in contemporary artistic practice. Architect Yung Ho Chang will create a nomadic, versatile landscape in the Virgin Garden; artist team Sun Yuan and Peng Yu will present a flying saucer hand-crafted by Chinese farmers, a metaphor for the farmer's projected ideals in the new century, and fengshui specialist and scholar, Wang Qiheng, will conduct a fengshui analysis for the national pavilions and Venice at large. In short, Virgin Garden: Emersion will probe both the contemporary conceptual and visual language of contemporary Chinese artists, and the shifting landscape of a nation in the midst of a metamorphosis.

Bio

Born in 1955, Fan Di'an received his degree in art history from the premier art institution in China, the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, where he is presently Vice President and professor, specializing in Chinese art in the 20th century, contemporary art criticism and curatorial practice. Since the economic reform of the 1980s in China, Fan has been a seminal figure in the study, presentation and development of contemporary Chinese art, participating in many landmark avant-garde exhibitions including 85 New Wave Art and, in 1989, organizing the first major Chinese contemporary art exhibition, Chinese Avant-Garde. In the 1990s, Fan curated many important exhibitions, notably, New Generation Art. His influence in the Chinese art world has, in part, facilitated the Chinese government's support of contemporary Chinese artists, as well as international cultural exchanges.

In addition to his current involvement at the Academy, Fan’s recent projects include: Urban Creation: 2004 Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, 2004; Chinese Contemporary Sculpture, Paris, 2004; Design in France, Beijing, 2004; the preparation for the China Pavilion at the 50th Venice Biennale, 2003; Alors, La Chine? Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2003; Chinese Painting of 20th Century, Paris, 2003; China Pavilion at the 25th Sao Paolo Biennial, 2002, and Living in Time, Museum fur Gegenwart, Hamburg Station, Hamburg, Germany, 2001.