5th Beijing International Art Biennale

“Future and Reality”

National Art Museum of China, Beijing
28 September – 22 October 2012
Works by 261 international artists.

The prospect of the future has been always the ideological bailment of the sage of antiquity, from Chinese Liyun datong, to Republic of Plato in ancient Greece, and Utopia of Thomas More in England and so on, the depiction of the future becomes an import chapter in the art history. Every period has its distinct and picturesque branding, which only belongs to itself. The gesture of moving towards the future of modern China attracts worldwide attention, and China also needs to know the world, which is moving towards the future.

The reality is not desirable: the ecological crisis, the earthquake, the tsunami, the nuclear pollution, the wars, the religious conflicts, the terrorist attacks and so on, these natural calamities and man-made misfortunes are menacing the existence and the future of the humanity momently. These acute relations between the humanity and the nature and the conflicts among different cultures reflect the general anxieties for the future. And furthermore, which constitutes the importance and urgency to the searching of the possible future. The future is the result of the reality; the reality is the origin of the future. There are uncountable possibilities in the future.

To a “harmonious world” of getting along friendly with each other and prosperous development, or to “the doomsday” of the ecological destruction and the desolation of home, depends on our realistic choice, attitude and action. Eliminating the realistic disasters, rebuilding the foundation of the way to the future, the humanity of the whole world build hand in hand in common the harmonious world, and make great efforts to create the beautiful future. It’s the advisable choice and sacred responsibility of us, including the contemporary artists, which also is the spiritual mission of contemporary art.

The theme “Future and Reality” of the 5th Beijing Biennale is the continuation, extending and deepening of the theme of the 4th Beijing Biennale（“Environment Concern and Human Existence”. The theme combines the spiritual pursuit of the future with of humanistic care in reality which can fully stimulates the artist’s creative inspiration and provide the free space for artists’ romantic imagination, expanding the art form. Each artist around the world has his own dreams and visions for the future which based on real life and has his insight and reflection of the reality based on his own ideal future.

From the novel and unique personalized perspective, artists can use fantasy color which is surreal or artistic language of different styles, such as realistic, expressive and abstract to express their aesthetic emotion of thinking about the future and concerning about the reality freely, so that they will build a colorful world of art together which transcends the reality and moves towards the future. The art world records contemporary humans’ arduous footprint of moving out of the plight of reality and creating a better future, and also entrusted with the ancient dream of humanity forever.

The theme of this Beijing biennale is with extensive inclusiveness and artists can express this topic from different angles and using different forms. While the artists show contemporary art creation and development situation, repose artists’ endless longing to the glorious future and stimulate the whole society’s reflection of crisis that exist now, they also promote the crisis consciousness and social culture responsibility and enhance people’s faith to overcome difficulties and rebuild their homes, establish a positive and optimistic attitude and faith.