As a major international financial group, the UBS (United Bank of Switzerland) has accumulated an impressive number of artworks over the years. In 2004 the group began to display these works at exhibits around the world, arriving in China for the first time in 2008.

With works from the 1960s to the present, the UBS set up at the Beijing-based National Art Museum and Shanghai Art Museum with two successful retrospective exhibitions in June and October, respectively.

Now at the Guangdong Museum of Art, the exhibition in Guangzhou entitled "Fact and Fiction" is focused mostly on video and photographic works – a very different approach from its two former shows in China.

According to curator Joanne Bernstein, "Fact and Fiction" is like the two sides of Chinese philosophy. "As events recede into the past and experiences are subtly transformed by memory and reinterpretation, the divide between fact and fiction can become slippery. Many artists are interested in halting this process by rescuing disappearing histories and reminding us of reality, while others are interested in exposing the blurry line between fact and fiction by introducing a healthy dose of imagination and fantasy."

The Guangzhou exhibition features 56 pieces from 12 artists, including Chinese artist Qin Ga's performance art-cum-photograph 'Long March', making its debut in China. In it Qin displays a tattoo of China on his back. The map is marked with several renowned stops on the Long March that he visited and documented by video.

Another of the featured artists, Regina José Galindo from Guatemala, depicts herself as performance artist in a video work. Galindo recorded herself wearing manacles on her feet and hands in order to evoke feelings of resistance to the sexual discrimination taking place in her country.

Like Regina, human history informs the work of many of the artists at the exhibit. Susan Hiller, an American-born artist, created a hall-sized installation by arraying collected photos of German street names bearing the word 'Jude' (Jew) on the wall, then marking the names and locations on a map.

Japanese artist Hiraki Sawa has created a 'flip book' by painting airplanes on the edges of the pages of a book. In the video, when the pages of the book are turned rapidly, the illusion of moving airplanes is created.

The exhibitions in Beijing and Shanghai received over 70,000 spectators, approximately 1,000 daily. There are expected to be even more in Guangzhou by the time the exhibition ends on 22 March.

As a major international financial group, the UBS (United Bank of Switzerland) has accumulated an impressive number of artworks over the years. In 2004 the group began to display these works at exhibits around the world, arriving in China for the first time in 2008.

With works from the 1960s to the present, the UBS set up at the Beijing-based National Art Museum and Shanghai Art Museum with two successful retrospective exhibitions in June and October, respectively.

Now at the Guangdong Museum of Art, the exhibition in Guangzhou entitled "Fact and Fiction" is focused mostly on video and photographic works – a very different approach from its two former shows in China.

According to curator Joanne Bernstein, "Fact and Fiction" is like the two sides of Chinese philosophy. "As events recede into the past and experiences are subtly transformed by memory and reinterpretation, the divide between fact and fiction can become slippery. Many artists are interested in halting this process by rescuing disappearing histories and reminding us of reality, while others are interested in exposing the blurry line between fact and fiction by introducing a healthy dose of imagination and fantasy."

The Guangzhou exhibition features 56 pieces from 12 artists, including Chinese artist Qin Ga's performance art-cum-photograph 'Long March', making its debut in China. In it Qin displays a tattoo of China on his back. The map is marked with several renowned stops on the Long March that he visited and documented by video.

Another of the featured artists, Regina José Galindo from Guatemala, depicts herself as performance artist in a video work. Galindo recorded herself wearing manacles on her feet and hands in order to evoke feelings of resistance to the sexual discrimination taking place in her country.

Like Regina, human history informs the work of many of the artists at the exhibit. Susan Hiller, an American-born artist, created a hall-sized installation by arraying collected photos of German street names bearing the word 'Jude' (Jew) on the wall, then marking the names and locations on a map.

Japanese artist Hiraki Sawa has created a 'flip book' by painting airplanes on the edges of the pages of a book. In the video, when the pages of the book are turned rapidly, the illusion of moving airplanes is created.

The exhibitions in Beijing and Shanghai received over 70,000 spectators, approximately 1,000 daily. There are expected to be even more in Guangzhou by the time the exhibition ends on 22 March.