For the first time in its glorious history of more than a century, the Venice Biennale, which opened on June 9 and runs through to November 6, will have an official China pavilion to exhibit the latest works of the best contemporary Chinese artists.

According to the commissioner Fan Di'an, the debut of China will be quite remarkable, not least given that the China Pavilion is one of the largest. In terms of artistic value and exhibit variety it is also quite impressive.

"The China pavilion is a sign of the growing importance of Chinese contemporary art both inside China and on the global art market," said Fan, the vice-president of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts.

A newcomer

Of the many visual arts festivals held throughout the world each year, the Venice Biennale, which takes place every two years in this stunning city, is one of the most well established and highly respected. In fact it is reputed to be the "mother" of art biennales, as other such events are believed to have been inspired by it.

Ever since its founding in 1895, it has been avant-garde. It is to the art world like what Venice Film Festival is to cinematography both are extremely prestigious, regarded as the Mecca of art professionals and art lovers.

The practice of installing a "pavilion" for participating countries or regions began in 1907.

China, however, is a relative newcomer exhibitor, although Chinese artists began participating in the Biennale as individuals in the early 1990s.

Since then, the Biennale has exhibited and honored the works of numerous renowned Chinese artists, paving the way for the world to better understand contemporary Chinese artistic practice.

The year 2003 should have been the first for China to have a national pavilion, but the sudden outbreak of SARS forced the country to pull out.

This year the event boasts nearly 60 national and regional pavilions in total.

China's has been given tremendous support by the event's organizing committee. And, says Fan, the site of the China Pavilion is one of the best of all venues. Located in the busiest block and adjacent to the press centre, it is impossible for it to go unnoticed by both passing visitors and journalists.

The Chinese Ministry of Culture has also lent considerable support, Fan added.

The China Pavilion, however, is only temporary, but the Ministry of Culture is currently talking with the Biennale about the possibility of building a permanent China Pavilion by 2007. "The China Pavilion will serve as a vehicle through which to explore or relocate the influence of China's political, economic and cultural establishment among the international contemporary art community," explained Fan.

While selecting artworks eligible for Venice, Fan and four other renowned Chinese artists, including New York-based Cai Guoqiang, the curator of the China Pavilion, went to great lengths to maximize the impact of China's inaugural presence at the Biennale.

Other members of the group include Xu Jiang, president of the Chinese Academy of Art, renowned architecture critic Wang Mingxian and Pi Li, a lecturer at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

"The selection of artists is essentially an investigation into the nature of national pavilions and, in the context of a multinational arena, how to represent the inaugural China Pavilion in 2005 or any national pavilion in the 21st century," said Fan.

He added that he was confident "the artworks exhibited in Venice will present to the world a different face of Chinese contemporary art, addressing and ultimately modifying prevailing stereotypes."

The presence of China will also help shift the event's Western-dominated tradition.

The China Pavilion consists of two adjacent spaces, one indoor and the other outdoor.

The most visually spectacular work is the bamboo canopy designed by renowned architect Zhang Yonghe. Covering an outdoor area of 1,600 square meters, the artwork is a giant installation.

Imaginative artworks

In many regions in southern China which teem with exuberant bamboo forests, the plant is traditionally used to make tables, chairs, baskets and many utensils, as well as to build houses. As such it is very closely related to daily life.

Inspired by this, Zhang designed a canopy with bamboo as the only raw material. It is not a house with walls and roof. Rather, it is only a skeletal shelter, which leaves much empty space in between the structure, and thus appears abstract, with a touch of Zen, which is distinctly oriental in character.

Zhang says much of the inspiration for the work came from the aesthetics of traditional Chinese gardening, which values xu (emptiness) as much as shi (fullness). He named the artwork "Zhu Tiao (The Bounce of Bamboo)," intimating a scene of bamboo shoots sprouting after a fall of spring rain, an image frequently found in Chinese art and literature.

It took 16 tons of bamboo, which was shipped from southern China, to build the canopy, said Fan. Six experienced artisans from the region toiled for several months to complete the work just a few days before the curtain went up on this year's Biennale.

The main frame of "Zhu Tiao" comprises 15 tons of bamboo, with the remainder used to make chairs and tables, which have been placed in the courtyard for visitors to rest awhile in.

"This is also very Chinese a landscape should not only offer aesthetic enjoyment, but also have utilitarian value," said Fan.

Also exhibited in the courtyard is a curious piece, the UFO, by the artist team Sun Yuan and Peng Yu.

Peng and Sun are widely acclaimed for their provocative and often controversial exhibits, which in the past have included objects such as live animals.

The UFO was produced by Du Wenda, a farmer from Anhui Province, who has been trying to produce a UFO of his own since 1999. He finally succeeded last year and now his work is come to the international fore.

In bringing the six-meter high UFO to Venice, Sun and Peng believe the significance does not lie in the object itself. More importantly, it shows individuals in today's China have the courage to realize their dreams. It is a metaphor for the farmer's projected ideals in the new century.

The indoor venue, a former naval oil storage facility, features a video installation by Xu Zhen and a light installation by Liu Wei. These two young artists have frequented many leading international art events in recent years.

The last piece of artwork is a six-minute cartoon animation in which feng shui specialist Wang Qiheng conducts a feng shui analysis for the venues of the Venice Biennale and for the city of Venice as a whole.

This way of using ancient Chinese geomancy to critique Western models is like a fun experiment and is certain to intrigue and arouse audience interest.

The China Pavilion is entitled "Virgin Garden: Emersion (Chun v Yuan: Fuxian)", which is taken from the name of the pavilion site.

"The name represents the induction of China in the Venice Biennale with romantic symbolism, and three curatorial themes," said Fan.

First, Emersion embodies the diverse zeitgeist rising from rapid change and development in Chinese society. Second, Emersion speaks to the displacement or relocation of China's distinct political economic and cultural influences into 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.

"In short, 'Virgin Garden: Emersion'" will probe both the contemporary conceptual and visual language of Chinese artists, and the shifting landscape of a nation in the midst of a metamorphosis," said Fan.

(China Daily June 13, 2005)