Press Release

The China Moment. Contextualizing Individualism in Chinese Contemporary Art.

The China Moment is the first research exhibition presented by the documenta Institut. The exhibition at the Kasseler Kunstverein focuses on a pivotal phase in contemporary Chinese art, during which the relationship between the individual, the state, and society underwent a fundamental transformation. The starting point is the reform and opening-up policy of the late 1970s, which triggered profound political, economic, and cultural changes. In this environment, a new artistic language developed, in which personal experience, social participation, and forms of individual self-positioning took center stage.

Ranging from early performance practices and experimental video works to painting, photography, and installation practices, the exhibition shows how artists responded to and reflected on social upheavals. At the same time, The China Moment goes beyond individual works and conveys an impression of the structures that made this new art possible: improvised spaces, independent film and theater groups, self-organized exhibitions, and collective experiments formed the basis of a polyphonic scene that renegotiated the public sphere and individuality. Art and social transformation appear here as closely intertwined processes.

Accordingly, the exhibition space combines artworks with archival materials, documents, and film footage, bringing the social contexts of their creation to life. In addition to internationally renowned artists such as Cao Fei & Ou Ning, Han Lei, Lin Yilin, Ma Liuming, Wang Guangyi, and Xiao Lu, collective practices such as the New Measurement Group and the Living Dance Studio are also presented, whose works reformulated questions about the body, community, and artistic autonomy.

Many of the works on display function both as artworks and as archival objects. These include Zhuang Hui’s long-term documentary project on the Yangtze River and the Three Gorges Dam, which can be seen immediately upon entering the exhibition, as well as Wang Guangyi’s studies for later sculpture ensembles. Datong Dazhang’s mail art booklets are also both works of art and instructions for later realization—comparable to the publications of the New Measurement Group, which destroyed all original works after its dissolution, leaving only documentary traces behind.

In his film work, Wu Wenguang accompanies viewers on a car ride to the opening of the Beijing exhibition It's Me. Viewers become witnesses to state restrictions as Wu and his colleagues are stopped in front of closed doors. Other works deal with the search for one’s own voice: in the early 1990s, Kan Xuan, then a student, runs against the flow of traffic through an underpass, repeatedly calling out her own name. Lin Yilin, on the other hand, puts the relationship between the individual and the masses to the test by dismantling and rebuilding a wall stone by stone, slowly moving across a busy street.

Through numerous other works and materials, The China Moment offers insights into the emergence of an art scene as well as forms of artistic self-reflection against the backdrop of a booming Chinese art market. Zhou Tiehai stages this situation in a black-and-white 35mm silent film in nine acts, in which stereotypical scenes such as a Western curator visiting a Chinese artist's studio are reenacted. Yan Lei and Hong Hao, however, respond forcefully to the lack of Chinese representation in international exhibitions by sending a hundred colleagues a fake invitation to documenta IX.

These dynamics are complemented by archival material such as letters from German curators who worked in China in the early 1990s, testifying to the mutual observation and interest between Germany and China in times of upheaval. At the same time, the strong market orientation also gave rise to moments of reflection on humanistic ideals. Zheng Guoguo spends several weeks with a man living on the street whom he refers to as his “teacher”; Wang Bing accompanies a “man without a name” for over a year without comment. Alternative lifestyles become forms of silent protest. Alongside them are poetic gestures of resistance, such as Sui Jianguo’s work Kill, a rubber band perforated a thousand times with rusty nails.

Individual artists appear repeatedly in different contexts. One central figure is Xiao Lu, who participated in the historically significant exhibition China/Avant-Garde in Beijing in 1989, one of the earliest attempts to comprehensively present experimental contemporary art in a national art institution. Early international encounters also become visible, for example in an Italian-language video documentary by Monica Dematté, which shows young artists from the scene and is presented here for the first time with German and English subtitles. The development of many positions can be traced from self-organized spaces to major international biennials.

The China Moment is structured in four chapters that reflect different notions of individualism from an artistic perspective. The chapters are not designed as a linear narrative, but as open spaces of resonance in which works, archival material, and documents enter into dialogue with one another. The starting point is a concept of individualism that in the Western context often appears to be a natural legacy of liberalism, but in the Chinese context has a different genealogy: it first emerged as an intellectual category at the beginning of the twentieth century and gained new relevance in the 1980s in the wake of modernization and cultural enlightenment.

The chapters examine how artists renegotiate this concept in different ways: as a reaction to state and social structures, as a physical experience in public space, as a collective experiment, or as a moment of self-reflection in the field of tension between the market, institutions, and the public sphere. The works do not respond illustratively to a theoretical concept but develop their own forms of individuality from concrete situations, gestures, and practices. Individualism is thus not presented as a fixed category, but as something that is constantly reforming itself in artistic practice.

Visitors are invited to explore these developments for themselves. Extensive archive material is available for independent study: from photographs of early exhibitions from the 1990s and 2000s to literary references, including Lu Xun, whom a collective of independent theaters cites in a performance.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog featuring new texts by Mi You, Su Wei, and Anna-Lisa Scherfose, as well as historical essays by authors such as Wang Hui, Qin Hui, and Zhang Xudong, some of which are appearing in English for the first time.

Curated by Mi You, Su Wei, and Anna-Lisa Scherfose, The China Moment marks the beginning of a long-term research and exhibition practice by the documenta Institut that examines global artistic ecologies, their histories, and their present.

Program

Artist Talk
Saturday, January 24, 2026, 6 pm; Kasseler Kunstverein, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel
Artists from different generations will discuss their experiences and artistic careers since the 1980s, addressing how individual positions have been and can be negotiated during a period of profound social transformation. The talk is hosted by Su Wei and Anna-Lisa Scherfose.

Book Presentation: Seeing through China
Friday, January 30, 2026, 7 pm; Hofbuchhandlung Vietor, Ständeplatz 17, 34117 Kassel
Artist and curator Andreas Schmid will share insights from his experiences in German-Chinese exchange since the 1980s and present images from several decades of his work in China.

Film Screening: Ghosts, Icons, Clouds, Dreams
Saturday, February 7, 2026, 3 pm; BALi Kinos, Rainer-Dierichs-Platz 1, 34117 Kassel
From historical ghosts to digital technologies to new forms of work, these films by young Chinese filmmakers explore the complex interconnections of the country's political, economic, and cultural history. In cooperation with BALi Kinos Kassel.

Film screening: “I truly believe everything is accidental” – Four Artist Portraits
Saturday, March 7, 2026, 3 pm; BALi Kinos, Rainer-Dierichs-Platz 1, 34117 Kassel
Four documentaries provide insight into different artistic biographies and demonstrate how individual experiences, conflicts, and decisions are translated into unique artistic languages. In cooperation with BALi Kinos Kassel.

Guided Tours

Regular public tours led by art educator Franziska Weygandt will take place throughout the exhibition. In approximately 90 minutes, participants will gain insight into the historical and social contexts of the works, learn about artistic approaches, and have the opportunity for discussion.

We are delighted that Jiaqi Hou will also offer tours in Chinese/Mandarin. Dates will be announced shortly, but interested groups can already register to arrange individual times.

Public Tour Dates
Thursdays, 6.30 pm
Saturdays, 4 pm
Sundays, 12 pm

Participation is free, and registration is not required.
Private tours are also available for school classes, study groups, and other groups by appointment.