Through the Lens:

New Media Art from Ireland: Varvara Shavrova: Untouched

Location: BAMOIC (Beijing Art Museum of Imperial City)

Exhibition March 16 - March 30 2008

Artist：Varvara Shavrova

Acknowledgement: We would like to give special recognition to some of our Friends of Old Beijing Project volunteers for providing support and help to Varvara Shavrova, a Russian artist living in Beijing. Many grateful thanks to:

Chen Zhe, a volunteer from FoOB Phase II Group 10 who was familiar with Varavara Shavrova’s works and helped to assist and plan the exhibit.

Chen Jing, a volunteer who was interviewed and took us to visit Baiyunguan and her home where we were able to speak with her family about their memories of Old Beijing.

Sun Xuejuan, a volunteer who helped to choose appropriate interviewees and conduct some interviews.

This exhibition is a part of 2008 Ireland culture festival .The key word of the festival is new media .It is including photography , video and multimedia. And the famous artist that wields a lot of national & international influence is Varvara Shavrova.

UNTOUCHED is a photographic and multimedia artwork that identifies common strands of experience in China's capital Beijing and a rural community in Ireland. The artist, Varvara Shavrova, brings a unusual perspective to this seemingly paradoxical quest.

The project focuses on the physical and social changes that Beijing and its population are experiencing in preparation for the coming Olympic Games. This exhibition will touch a chord for many Chinese people, and for those living in Beijing in particular.

It is rare for any artist to have the opportunity to carry out a project of this nature in such depth and breadth in China. Shavrova started working on the project when she first came to China nearly 3 years ago. Since then she has had opportunity to study the lives of the Beijing hutongs, and compare them to her experience of living in rural Ireland. The project is presented as large-scale photographic installation, where the stark black and white images of old hutong neighborhoods are set against photographs of abandoned cottages in rural County Mayo in Ireland. Although Shavrova’s photographs are devoid of people’s presence, the absence of their presence becomes poignant through the scribbling on a semi-demolished wall of an old house in Beijing, or an abandoned bible sitting on an old fire place in a derelict farmer’s cottage in Ballycastle.

In contrast to the still photography, Shavrova’s video work concentrates on the people and their stories. Shot in a documentary style, the video conjures up a compelling story of personal experiences and creates vivid portraits of local neighborhoods and its people, both on the brink of extinction.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Shi Li-Sanderson Assistant to the Executive Director International Curator Beijing Art Museum of Imperial City
Web site: www.bamoic.info (Read more...)
Office:0086-10-65239146
Mobile:0086-13651252046