Dr. Melissa Chiu is director of the Asia Society Museum in New York and vice president of the Society's Global Arts program. She is also a curator of contemporary art and one of the world's leading authorities on Chinese and Asia contemporary art and the author of several books on Chinese contemporary art. Her most recent work is Breakout: Chinese Art Outside China (2007). She also curated the first major retrospective of Zhang Huan's works at the Asia Society in New York in 2007. She was formerly the founding director of the Asia-Australia Arts Centre in Sydney, Australia. She earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Australia, where she studied Chinese art. She is based in New York. What follows is a Quesetion & Answer interview with Dr. Chiu, who was recently in China and is preparing a major new show at the Asia Society, on Chinese art after the revolution.

Lynn: Melissa, you have written several books on Chinese contemporary art. Can you tell us a little about what you’ve covered in them?

Melissa: One of my more recent books is called, “Breakout: Chinese Art Outside China,” and that was based on about twelve years of research focusing on Chinese artists living inside and outside China. I came to realize that the work being done inside and outside was very different, especially during the 1990`s, when we first saw the internationalization of Chinese contemporary art. During this period, Chinese artists living in China sought opportunities abroad to show their work, while Chinese artists who were living outside China also showed their work in their newly adopted homes.. In both cases these artists were creating very different types of works. For artists living outside China, we might see their work as the result of a Chinese Diaspora, a sense of longing towards China where they ,looked to Chinese culture or Chinese history as a frame of reference. In a way, we didn’t see this going on in China at the same time with the same generation of artists. 

In Australia [where Melissa grew up and studied], I was lucky enough to see one of the very first exhibitions of Chinese contemporary art in 1993. And from that I became more interested in what was going on in China. I visited it many times and I also worked with artists to create exhibitions such as a solo exhibition of Wang Youshen’s work. Also, of course, Australia benefited from the artists who had migrated there just prior to June 4, 1989 and there was a whole community that I had access to. I was able to interview many of them during this time and became very aware that there were two communities at this time in Chinese contemporary art: the one inside and the one outside of China. And that’s really what the basis of my argument for that first book.

Now, more recently, I have published a book called, “Chinese Contemporary Art: Seven Things You Should Know.” This is a book that really offers an introduction to the subject. While “Breakout…” is more in-depth and comprehensive based on a

theoretical argument. “Seven Things” is meant to provide an accessible, readable entry into the Chinese art world. It was based on a lecture I first gave in New York. I was asked to repeat the lecture at many other museums across the United States so I decided I would put the ideas into a book. In some ways the book is also a response to the questions people have asked me about Chinese contemporary art over the years. For example, I am always asked about censorship and its effect on art practice so I have made this one of the sections in the book. The first point in the book however is a statement that it is important to remember that Chinese contemporary art has a thirty year history, it was not born three years ago when the auctions began.

Lynn: Melissa, can you explain what your role is at the Asia Society?

Melissa: My position is museum director and vice president of global visual arts programs. What that means is that I oversee the Museum, its collections and its international exhibition programs. And in 2010 the Asia Society will open two new centers with museums. We currently have eleven centers around the world. But two centers in particular: Houston and Hong Kong, will open with museum facilities. My role will be to oversee those museum programs.

Lynn: I see. Does it mean you will live outside US?

Melissa: No, I will still be based in New York. New York is the headquarters for the Asia Society. But it means I will probably travel more frequently to these places than I already do. Asia Society itself has always played a leadership role in the presentation of Asian arts and culture. Although we began with traditional arts, we are also a leader in presenting contemporary art, often staging the first exhibitions in the United. Some examples include Inside Out: New Chinese Art curated by Gao Minglu in 1998 and Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India curated by Chaitanya Sambrani in 2005, both the first major museum surveys in the States.

Lynn: So the Asia Society has a large museum collection?

Melissa: We have a traditional collection that was given to us by our founders, John D. Rockefeller III and his wife Blanchette Hooker. And then, last fall, we announced our plans to establish a contemporary art collection, making us the first institution to really have this focus on cutting edge Asian contemporary art in United States.

And within that, we have a an area of focus in video, new media and photography. So a part of that strategy is really looking at where the strength of art work in Asia is today. And I really feel that a lot of artists working in Asia are really excelling in use of this media. They are being accepted in the international art world as some of the most influential artists in video and other mediums. So that’s the reason why we decided to focus on this for the time being.

Lynn: So will the Asia Society make new media the focus of its contemporary art collection?

Melissa: It means we will collect actively in this field. But it also means that we will exhibit a full range of ink painting, oil painting, installations, sculpture, and video. In terms of the collection, we will focus first on this group of media that really looks at the interaction between art and technology.

Lynn: Recently, I went to New York and saw your exhibition, which included an artist from Vietnam. He was doing video work.

Melissa: Yes, that’s a part of our collection, a promised gift to the collection from Hal and Ruth Newman. It is a video installation by Jun Nguyen Hatsushiba, one of his first major works in the medium. Other works by Chinese artists in our collection include Cao Fei, Zhang Peili and Wang GongXin.

Lynn: What major exhibitions are planned for the Asia Society?

Melissa: One of the important exhibitions I have been working on, for the past five years with Zheng Shengtian, is an exhibition called “Art in China’s Revolution.” It focuses on the period in China from the 1950s through to the late 1970’s. The idea behind the exhibition is that, this was such important formative period for what we see in today’s contemporary art scene. Many artists working now refer to those art works and say the works from that period were key to their own works. We also want to provide some background and context for our understanding of what’s going on in Chinese contemporary art today. It’s a prelude to the current experimental art movement.

Lynn: I see. Who is Zheng Shengtian?

Melissa: Zheng Shengtian is my co-curator. He lives in Vancouver where he is managing editor of a magazine called “Yishu.” We have been working together for many years on this exhibition. With this exhibition of Chinese art from the revolutionary period we want to encourage an understanding of where Chinese art has come from. Works especially from the 1960s and 1970s form something of a blind spot in account of Chinese art history. He is ideally suited for this role having been a teacher and artist at the National Academy in Hangzhou during the Cultural Revolution and now he is a curator active in the art scene in China.

Lynn: Wasn’t it difficult to get works from that period?

Melissa: It has been a very complex exhibition to organize. That’s why it’s taken us so long to organize. But it’s also the first exhibition of this material. When an exhibition presents scholarship for the very first time on a historical period it’s original research so it takes that much more time The works come from private collections in China, Hong Kong, Europe, Australia, and the United States..

Lynn: We all know that Chinese contemporary art is hot in the marketplace in Asia, but what about New York art circles? What do people think about it? It’s nothing related to the market but what do people who work in art circles think about Chinese contemporary art?

Melissa: I think one of the challenges for Chinese art right now is that most peoples’ familiarity is based on the marketplace. The system of validation, of whether an artist is important or not is coming from the market right now. Museums have often played one of the most significant roles in determining an artist’s importance and an artist’s place within art history. So I strongly advocate that museums continue to play that role. There are a burgeoning number of private and public museums in China today that will hopefully fulfil this role in time to come. At Asia Society we also make an effort to show artists that may not necessarily be active in the marketplace, to give people a sense of what else is going on beyond the auctions.

One of the challenges is that the media focus on record-breaking prices because it is good news. I think it is often important to remember that there are all sorts of practices that continue, but they might not receive the same attention.

Lynn: We know you had a show in New York featuring Zhang Huan. Are you planning more shows of individual artists from China?

Melissa: We do have some exhibitions planned, but of course, we have “Art and China”s Revolution as our next exhibition. It features nearly 50 artists.

Lynn: Tell us something personal, what appeals to you these days, in the art world? Do you favor painting over sculpture or installation over video?

Melissa: You know I just came back from a trip to Pakistan and I saw a really energetic art scene. I was very impressed with the artists I saw in Karachi and Lahore. We are planning an exhibition next May of this work and I think it will really change people’s opinions of this country. Also the work carries a strength, since some artists are working under very difficult conditions.

Lynn: What about Chinese work?

Melissa: Yes, I think there is a good deal of compelling work in China. Before, we were talking about a little of diversity about the contemporary art world here in China. I think all too often in the contemporary art world, we become enticed with always discovering new artists. But we must not forget that artists of mid-career or perhaps even older, can also offer us fresh perspectives. That, in fact, was one of he reasons why I wanted to create an exhibition of Zhang Huan’s work. There was a very importance transitional moment for him and his art practice when he moved back to China. And the exhibition sought to capture that transformation—one from performance to large scale sculptures.

Lynn: In the early years of contemporary art movement in China, politics played a very central role. What about today? Do you still see that?

Melissa: Politics today in China? I don’t think it’s nearly as relevant as it once was. Certainly artists in the eighties and nineties did sometimes push the limits of what the government considered to be art and this at times meant being political, but for the most part today’s sense of politic is not the same. It is certainly true to say that when the environment for experimental artists relaxed in China around 2000, we saw fewer works that wee politically motivated. Having said that, there are still some subjects off limits for artists when they show their work in state-run museums such as sex, violence, portrayals of political leaders and the Cultural Revolution.

Lynn: Many experts say that in the 1990s most collectors dismissed Chinese art as too simple-minded and a copy of western style. Has that impression changed?

Melissa: Yes, definitely, there is a much greater acceptance of Chinese artists in the international art scene today. There is a recognition that the work of Chinese artists is not just a pale imitation of Western art. When you have museums, such as Asia Society and the Museum of Modern Art, and notable international collectors, such as Francois Pinault and Charles Saatchi, collecting the work of Chinese artists alongside other international artists you know that Chinese art is not just a passing fashion.

Lynn: Thank you very much.