"Half the World" was an alternative title given to women of the NewChina in the 1950's, and later came to refer to the entire femalepopulation. Since 1949, Chinese women have been encouraged by thegovernment to step out of their homes and take part in a string of"social construction movements". It is from this time, when womenbegan to share the same political rights as men, that the concept of menand women as equals became widely accepted. Mao Zedong is knownto have said, "Women hold up half the sky", meaning that women werecapable of supporting half of the world in every respect: from politics tothe workforce and building a family, to name just a few. The term "halfthe world", as the same meaning of "half the sky", speaks for women bypointing out their enormous contribution to the world, and confirmingtheir status as respected member of society. It is also a poetic sign ofsocial progress in China.

　　As a young female artist, Xia Jing devotes her time and soul to her art,and there can be no better representative of "half the world" of Chinesecontemporary art. Xia Jing is from the major and most fundamentalclass of Chinese society. She is not well-known, but has an intenseinterest in social change, and is a keen observer of the fate of commonpeople caught up in China's modernization process. Her chosen mediumis coal. Recent years have seen a spate of problems at coal mines andcasualties running into the thousands among Chinese coalminers. Herwork, a legacy of Chinese traditional culture, shows great concern forthe lives of coalminers and a spiritual search for humanity.

　　I have selected Xia Jing as the only artist to exhibit in the nationalpavilion, simply to provide a platform for her personality to shinethrough. At present, Chinese artists in international shows tend toappear in groups with ideological Chinese symbols or labels, and theirrespective qualities and individuality are easily overshadowed by thecollective consciousness. This applies especially to young or femaleartists, whose talents combined with their powerful emotions andinsights into social problems have been neglected and remain largelyinvisible. However, they are "half our world", a half just not seen in aclimate of art centrism.-->How about moving this yellowed part to thebeginning of ?

　　With years of experience, Xia Jing understands the importance for anyexhibition to elicit a response from the public. Her works are producedwith vision, and seek acceptance from local audiences too. Extremelysensitive to different conditions and environments, she can alwaysfind a way of her own to cope with them, for example using the ceilingonly in the Arsenale indoor space, and a section of the ground in theGiardini outdoor space to create a special contrast, and erecting an ironfence for the coal pile in the Giardini to encourage more interactionbetween audience and work. Xia Jing's exquisite grasp of installations,photography and video demonstrates a painstaking exploration ofmethods and styles, and at the same time great expansion in waysof expression. The pitch black background of the space, created by acombination of coal, black-painted iron fences and the Buddha statuesor coalminer heads made of coal, makes a striking impression on theeyes and hearts of viewers, thanks to Xia Jing's outstanding talent forcultural reflection and social criticis