Interview with Lorenzo Fusi, the international curator of the Liverpool Biennale

Venue: ground floor at Information Centre, 52 Renshaw Street, Liverpool,UK

Time: 3:30 pm 26th Oct 2010

Dan Wang: Information Centre was my first biennale venue where I visited this year. It was really impressive. Comparing to the Biennale in 2008, I remember there were a number of conventional institutions such as the Tate Liverpool, Bluecoat and Fact etc. But this time the Renshaw Street was chosen as one of the main places, I am curious of the process. How did it work? Which did it come across first, the venue or the names of the artists?

Lorenzo Fusi: It has been happening on the multi-level. Each one case was sort of individual circumstance. In some case, we have already had the idea of the space. But I won’t say the artists being chosen accordingly to the space. It was more like guiding through rather than dictating. The majority of the space became available until the last minute. As for this building, 52 the Renshaw Street, I had my eyes on it since I first arrived. After throughout time ( over two years ago), the place has been vacuum and deserted, and the enterprise here were moved somewhere. We were very keen on using the space.

But the negation was a bit difficult. For example, we did not sign the contract until three weeks before the opening. So I could not possibly design the exhibition around it. A great section was basically titled Re:thinking Trade. It happened throughout the ground floor and has direct relationship both vision and psychology with the street. It was pretty much influenced by the idea of having a space available. It was about the history of trading exchanging covers, and of course it was a compliment on this exhibition. So the idea started before, and the space came along afterwards. But some of ideas have become more powerful since the space was occupied.

D: I felt a lot of art works were embodied by the space and they were very site-specific. Did artists do the research of the space first before make the ideas? How was the process?

L: Now I was a bit resisted speaking about the word ‘site-specific’. Although the word was past notion throughout 80s and 90s, I don’t think it is so fundamentally important now. A lot of works have been done and said. I am also resisted works made lots of sense in one specific context were not translated sometimes if you did not replace them somewhere. Sometimes some works were suggested or dictated by actual environment. I mean like architecture, the site or circulation which you might take into consideration. That is I still consider as a bible form of site-specificity. To be site-specific in that meaning, it only has to make sense in the meaning to the specific site. But I do not think it is a good way to operate.

So as I said, the majority of sites have not been defined until later on. Of course, these artists have visited Liverpool and we gave them many possibilities. There were many options like many sites of showing the works and theories being occupied. But nothing was really confirmed. So at the beginning of the process was more about suggesting the title, the theme, the approach and sensitivity of the artists. Then the way materialized and taken the final form can be said ‘site-specific’. The way you have chosen, it really needs to be crystallized in order to make sense in a specific environment. So certain chooses in terms of solutions were suggested to the public spaces.

D: I still remembered the first day I arrived, Lewis Biggies( the director of Liverpool Biennale) gave me a brief introduction of the space. He told one of the curatorial approaches was to make ambiguity between art works and non-art objects. I found the space still kept the original inner facility such as old wall paper, soakers and lamps. Sometimes I was confused to recognize whether it was an art work without clear labels.

L: You might find in the public realm. I mean this place. It becomes evident which is entirely occupied by this exhibition. So you expect the majority of elements, features or objects would belong to the exhibition. But if you think about the commissioning art in the public realm, outside the wall, in the streets or squares whatever, the same rules and regulations applied make you think in reality and became visual excitement, which are much stronger than the art works.

D: So what is the relationship between the site and the art, particularly in this show?

L: I think it is very important in particular this building. To keep the memory of what the building has been. To keep spirit in psychological way. That is why many memories have been persisted. Then I thought it was beautiful than any art works being represented. It is a history and fascinating, and experience has been sentimentally set in this building. It will be a mistake to cancel everything inside.

D: So what is the role of art intervention in the space? Can art reactive this space?

L: I think the role of art in this specific building. It has been the key after the enterprise closed down. The building has been empty for over years. It is interesting enough that this building was considered as the most central part of the city. Now it became invisible to the sight of the people. What the Liverpool Biennale did through the exhibition was to make sure people would become aware again of the building at the present. It is also pointing the figure in terms of political decision. So it is a contradiction that so many new buildings are being developed around the town when persisted buildings under use will not be used at all. So whenever you occupy a public space, you basically highlight accessibility to make as much as possible. It is a fabric of the city.

In this respect, the Liverpool Biennale is very important. The enterprise was shot down one after the others. So the area became poorer and poorer in terms of human beings and activities were alienated. People who still have enterprise here are struggling because the Renshaw Street which once presented the highlight of Liverpool became ruining itself. People from the enterprise association are happy with what the Biennale did. The declining area has been activated and turned to be Biennale’s achievement.

D: What will this building happen after the biennale?

L: Well, unfortunately the decision will be managed by the state and returned to the company. The first side of the fact, it has been renewed interest in using the building from resellers. I assume one option in the future can be reoccupied by business. If it was my decision, it should be more like a city council. As a political decision, this building should be going through more consistent like quality house residencies or artists’ studios. It would become a cultural centre or presentational activities relating to contemporary culture because it is very central and close to the stations. It can be a multifunctional site. But the Biennale is marking a possible track which shows the possibility to do different things here.

D: The Biennale curatorial approach reminds me the show I curated in Shanghai Metro station in this summer. Please tell me your commend later. I tried summarizing the story: The exhibition Invisible City took place in a passage way of one Shanghai metro station and its aim was to explore the real shanghai in the period of the World Expo. The site was really changeling. On the one side, it opened to various groups of people, approximately 100,000 audiences passing through the place and majority were not specialized in art. One the other side, the site used to display advertisements was limited to the form of the works as a series of two-dimensional posters. At the end, I also put labels on these art works in order to give more information to the audiences. In some way, I tried to make clear border between art works and advertisements.

L: I think there are many different cases. In general, whenever you operate the public realm, you should be confident enough of consistency, do not feel urgent to put more labels. I think the art work should speak for itself. The art works which need too much explanation are not successful. So there will be other acceptance. I would say public art should not need labeling. There might be a platform where all information will be provided like website or leaflets. It will be other form to communicate or equal information. At the same time, it will be contradictory if you add too much educational approach in the public realm. If you want more communication, it should be in the gallery space. In the public realm, you have to face the fact that there are many conflicting messages around which will be delusive by something else.

D: In my case, there was no information on the website and passengers had no idea what was happening in this space. They knew something changed but they did not consider these posters as pieces of art works at the beginning.

L: Whenever you operate the content, you have to be aware at the beginning. What are you going to present at the early stage. From the curatorial view point, it is important to initiate the project, being aware of the situations and realize maximal information that you can provide. This information is going to be interrupted, not necessary as an art work. It is ordinary language and can communicate which are there. I think the consideration should take place before the project starts. Nowadays, there are many countries highly computerizing literature, which means incredibly simple way to provide more information like a website. Some people get more information from there. I do not think you can actually have both in the public realm. You can not have very guided and constructed way to provide information for your project. As for the aesthetics, the beauty and excitement in the public realm, there is a limit that you have to comprise the language you use.

D: In this circumstance, do you think is it necessary for the curator to navigate the audience?

L: I think it should be freedom in individual interpretation. Of course, you want to provide material of your thinking. That is your way to look at things. Artist should not have only one way to operate, even the curator should not be aware of only way to look at art. It should be diverse. Whenever you write an essay or a piece of paper, that is your own vision about it and you try to provide as much as inside that you have. But it is not necessary truth available about it. It is not only way to look at things. Actually I think the opposite way. It will be much more beautiful and more interesting to be open- minded art works. The interruption which you are not completely aware and never think about makes the art works richer and richer instead of becoming dryer and dryer because of the one way to read about it.

In my experience here, the art works I like best have been read or experienced in many different ways. Sometimes it is very construing way. I think it is more interesting rather than a single way.

D: Let us talk about censorship. Does censorship exist in public realm here? I also discussed with the artist Peter Mcdonald before, and he had a project of Art on the Underground. He told me that curator gave him really clear requirement of what can be shown or can not be at the early stage. As for my show in Shanghai metro station, the boundary of censorship was blurry. I was not sure whether the art works could be presented until the artists finished producing.

L: Censorship is fascinating and scaring issue at the same time. I have an experience of myself for other process. There is a pattern of form of the censorship, and at the same time you do experience indirect censorship which basically happens in registration. Although it is demarcated, good for community and starts at good promises, it is anyhow has an impact what can not be said, and ever better in the form what can not be said.

Give you an example; otherwise it will be a bit confusing. For instance, there is a series of animations by the artist Tala Madani in public area using BBC open air screen. You know BBC as a national broadcast company, has a straight regulation of which can be shown or not according to protection of children. The idea of this animation all I think is incredibly ironical and so playful. There are very strong massages, but they are not in particularly violent, comparing to our experience in regular cases. In a way, we expect most emancipated censorship. BBC did not want us to establish this work because their view point is not suitable for children. So what I mean, there are so many different valuation and sub-lines about censorship which do not necessarily mean you can not do. You have to invent ways which allows freedom for what you want to present.

D: If I go back to artistic practices, do you think the curator should consider the type of the audiences or the exception before making the show?

L: It is important to understand what audiences you are talking to. That is the key. At the same time, I do not think it should be absolute limitations. Otherwise you will deflect people and affect the possibilities. So it should not be only one principle to follow whenever you produce or commission art works. But at the same time, there are many different ways to exercise a form of censorship. At the majority of the limitations, we can easily pass if you follow the rules being structured. Sometimes institutions want to prohibit or inhibit the works because the context is not suitable for that certain circumstance. In this sense, curators should be aware of the situation and try avoiding useless conflicts or contracts or not necessarily stress.

Lorenzo Fusi, an International curator for the Liverpool Biennial 2010. Until April 2009 he was Curator of sms contemporanea in Siena (Italy) and until 2008 he was Chief Curator at the Palazzo delle Papesse.

Resource: http://www.acax.hu/index.

Interview - Moganshan 120

The guard

V/A: How long have you lived in this area?
Z: 28 years.

V/A: What has happened in this area during the past 28 years?
Z: The Shanghai Flour Mill was here (now Shanghai Fuxin Flour Co., Ltd.), which was responsible for providing 10 districts and 10 country towns’ flour from Shanghai – a unique site with a long history. It was established in 1897, and the original equipment of the manufacturing sequence was imported from the United States. When it was rebuilt later, it introduced new grinding equipment from Buhler – a Swiss company. I was transferred to this factory from Chongming District in 1976 and I was responsible for the machinery in the Flour Mill. I participated in installing the new equipment of Buhler1. Their equipment is really efficient.

(Buhler is the global specialist and technology partner in the supply of plants and services for processing grain and food as well as for manufacturing advanced materials.)

V/A: What is the most significant historical aspect or most important phenomenon of this area as far as you can remember?
Z: It is the factory, which was the best in the whole area. Not only the previous warehouses with dry wall and 10 meters floor height were impressive, but also the whole old architecture in this area. They all looked just like the architecture on the bund.

V/A: What happened then?
Z: After the reforms and the opening-up policy, the Flour Mill moved in 2006. Actually, I already left the factory in 1982.

V/A: Why have you still been living here even after you’ve left?
Z: When I lived in my old house, it was too small for a place to bathe. At that time, I lived in a Tingzijian2 on a surface 12 square meters. I discussed the bath problem with the project leader of the factory. It’s too embarrassing if I came to the factory everyday just to take a bath. Then, he decided that I could be a guard here. As a result, I have been a guard here for three years.

V/A: How long has the factory been left in the present state of ruins?
Z: Since 2001, almost 10 years.

V/A: What experiences did you make within the past 10 years?
Z: Every one can enter this area to do graffiti. There were several doors, they were closed, now all are accessible and you can easily pass through.

V/A: What aspect of this area still triggers good feelings in you?
Z: Only the flour factory. I often think about how good it was, contrary to its present devastation.

V/A: Were all your neighbors workers in the flour factory?
Z: Most of them were.

V/A: We tried to find you last weekend, but we heard that you went to check out your new apartments. Also, what will happen to your relationship with your neighbors once you move?
Z: We have seldom contacted each other, since people here are narrow-minded and selfish, whether you are rich or poor.

V/A: Are you going to keep your job as a guard here?
Z: No, only until the new apartment is ready. My job is quite similar to living in a friend’s house and taking care of it.

V/A: Has your attitude towards this area changed since 1976?

(“Tingzijian” is the term for a small room located at the turn of the staircase within a building. It usually faces north, so the small room would be cold in winter and hot in summer. House owners used to rent them out for extra income. During the 1920s and 1930s many highly educated people and artists came to Shanghai to escape social and political unrest in other regions of the country. Many of them were single and a Tingzijian (fig 8) was a cheap, convenient form of accommodation for them. In these humble rooms, they studied arduously and wrote prodigiously. Many famous writers such as Lu Xun, Cai Yuanpei, Guo Moluo, Mao Dun, Ba Jing, Ding Ling and Feng Zikai have been strongly influenced by this lifestyle. Reflecting their individual experiences in Tingzijian and Shikumen, their work hence was dubbed “Tingzijian Literature”.)
Z: This was the best flour mill in the Far East. Previously, the daily car flow here was so busy, no less than on Nanjing Road. There were lots of beautiful architectures , even the worst building destroyed was better than in the M50’s now. Anyway, that’s the decision of the Shanghai textile holding group. Removal of the factory was no good for the workers, only the cadres benefited from it. Once the removal took place, the workers had to lay off, while the cadres got money immediately. I already have no feelings left for the factory. Actually, I just worked in the flour factory for six years. Formerly, I was engaged in machinery, and then I was going to do my own project outside, but unfortunately, I was sick and no more work has come up since then. My condition is worse than those of the strangers who have pensions… The warehouse was so pretty, the bucket warehouses stored 25000 tons of wheat, which was dragged by tugs to the factory for the further processing from the million ton boats on Wu Song Kou. At that time, the route from the Suzhou River to here was incredibly busy.

V/A: How many houses were there altogether?
Z: Too many. Originally, the factory covered an area of the 106 acres, ranging from warehouse No. 1 to warehouse No. 12, all were all made of wood. In 1981, someone said he could rebuild the warehouse. That’s a thing one cannot officially talk about, because it had to do with a high-level contact in bureaucracy. The foundation of the warehouse had been made by wooden pegs that were 24 meters long and sized 50 cm x 50 cm. Once they pulled out all the wooden pegs, the Shanghai TV station came in for an interview, which alerted the Municipal Bureau of Culture in Putuo District Shanghai. Only then, they realized that it was such a treasure in terms of warehouses. The 24 meters long wooden pegs were so beautiful, probably made by the British, and so stable even after the warehouse was blown up by directed blasts twice in 2003.

The reason for using wood, just as in the Park hotel (the former tallest building in Shanghai), was the resistance of wood that avoided any sinking. The previous techniques were really efficient, old-time things were really wonderful, for sure. So was the furniture used in the halls. Tables, chairs and lounge chairs inside were all redwood. If people could live there now, they would probably all be white-collars, while in the old days, they were the housekeepers. During the Cultural Revolution, stealing, looting, knocking off happened everywhere.
There was a family that lived upstairs and a family that lived downstairs in the house that I am living now, two families were the majordomo who were in charge of the factory. Workers were workers, while majordomo were majordomo. Workers lived there, while majordomo lived here. Workers lived in bungalows, while the majordomo lived in two storey houses.

A worker is a worker, a steward is a steward. Workers live there, the management lives here. The houses of workers were cottages, the houses of stewards were two storey houses, a Tingzijian with a studio, a front parlor and a rear parlor, all very comfortable. Because of the Cultural Revolution, people were squeezing into the houses. You occupied one room, I occupied another and then all things went wrong. The houses were as beautiful as those in Xintiandi. There was a lot of robbery and occupying of houses going on during the Cultural Revolution. The houses should have belonged to the factory, but during the Cultural Revolution, the factory delivered all the space to the local Real Estate Management Office. For example, you occupied a space, you registered your name on a paper to state which room you were living in and then that room belonged to you. From the perspective of the local Real Estate Management Office, the workers of the factory were “robbers” occupying and dividing space.

I got my house when I was transferred here by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Grain in 1976. At that time, I was going to marry, but my parents’ house was too small, so the factory assigned a house to me. The previous owner was a couple, that house was too small for them as they had two children, while I needed a house for marriage and that was just enough for a new couple. After the coordination, they moved to a newer, bigger one. On the other hand, if I hadn’t had a good relationship with the leaders in the factory, I wouldn’t have gotten the house. If you said you wanted to get married and required for a house, you could do nothing if your leaders answered you that there was no house available. Because I was responsible for the machinery, I had a good relationship with various leaders, I got a house in the end. In most cases, that was impossible.

I still remember the first time I came here. This factory was really beautiful, full of plants. But now… Anyway, cadres have cadres’ ideas, regardless of the workers’ needs. I definitely have emotions for this place. It’s also my own fault that I left the factory. However, even if I hadn’t left the factory, I would also have been laid off. The factory has moved to Longwu Road, near Xupu Bridge. Because the land prices here are too expensive. The Swiss equipments also have been moved there. Actually, Buhler’s boss had joked to take me to Switzerland.

But I know that a joke is just joke…

Interview - Moganshan 120 | The guard

Interview - Moganshan 120

The guard

V/A: How long have you lived in this area?

Z: 28 years.

V/A: What has happened in this area during the past 28 years?

Z: The Shanghai Flour Mill was here (now Shanghai Fuxin Flour Co., Ltd.), which was responsible for providing 10 districts and 10 country towns’ flour from Shanghai – a unique site with a long history. It was established in 1897, and the original equipment of the manufacturing sequence was imported from the United States. When it was rebuilt later, it introduced new grinding equipment from Buhler – a Swiss company. I was transferred to this factory from Chongming District in 1976 and I was responsible for the machinery in the Flour Mill. I participated in installing the new equipment of Buhler1. Their equipment is really efficient.

(Buhler is the global specialist and technology partner in the supply of plants and services for processing grain and food as well as for manufacturing advanced materials.)

V/A: What is the most significant historical aspect or most important phenomenon of this area as far as you can remember?

Z: It is the factory, which was the best in the whole area. Not only the previous warehouses with dry wall and 10 meters floor height were impressive, but also the whole old architecture in this area. They all looked just like the architecture on the bund.

V/A: What happened then?

Z: After the reforms and the opening-up policy, the Flour Mill moved in 2006. Actually, I already left the factory in 1982.

V/A: Why have you still been living here even after you’ve left?

Z: When I lived in my old house, it was too small for a place to bathe. At that time, I lived in a Tingzijian2 on a surface 12 square meters. I discussed the bath problem with the project leader of the factory. It’s too embarrassing if I came to the factory everyday just to take a bath. Then, he decided that I could be a guard here. As a result, I have been a guard here for three years.

V/A: How long has the factory been left in the present state of ruins?

Z: Since 2001, almost 10 years.

V/A: What experiences did you make within the past 10 years?

Z: Every one can enter this area to do graffiti. There were several doors, they were closed, now all are accessible and you can easily pass through.

V/A: What aspect of this area still triggers good feelings in you?

Z: Only the flour factory. I often think about how good it was, contrary to its present devastation.

V/A: Were all your neighbors workers in the flour factory?

Z: Most of them were.

V/A: We tried to find you last weekend, but we heard that you went to check out your new apartments. Also, what will happen to your relationship with your neighbors once you move?

Z: We have seldom contacted each other, since people here are narrow-minded and selfish, whether you are rich or poor.

V/A: Are you going to keep your job as a guard here?

Z: No, only until the new apartment is ready. My job is quite similar to living in a friend’s house and taking care of it.

V/A: Has your attitude towards this area changed since 1976?

(“Tingzijian” is the term for a small room located at the turn of the staircase within a building. It usually faces north, so the small room would be cold in winter and hot in summer. House owners used to rent them out for extra income. During the 1920s and 1930s many highly educated people and artists came to Shanghai to escape social and political unrest in other regions of the country. Many of them were single and a Tingzijian (fig 8) was a cheap, convenient form of accommodation for them. In these humble rooms, they studied arduously and wrote prodigiously. Many famous writers such as Lu Xun, Cai Yuanpei, Guo Moluo, Mao Dun, Ba Jing, Ding Ling and Feng Zikai have been strongly influenced by this lifestyle. Reflecting their individual experiences in Tingzijian and Shikumen, their work hence was dubbed “Tingzijian Literature”.)

Z: This was the best flour mill in the Far East. Previously, the daily car flow here was so busy, no less than on Nanjing Road. There were lots of beautiful architectures , even the worst building destroyed was better than in the M50’s now. Anyway, that’s the decision of the Shanghai textile holding group. Removal of the factory was no good for the workers, only the cadres benefited from it. Once the removal took place, the workers had to lay off, while the cadres got money immediately. I already have no feelings left for the factory. Actually, I just worked in the flour factory for six years. Formerly, I was engaged in machinery, and then I was going to do my own project outside, but unfortunately, I was sick and no more work has come up since then. My condition is worse than those of the strangers who have pensions… The warehouse was so pretty, the bucket warehouses stored 25000 tons of wheat, which was dragged by tugs to the factory for the further processing from the million ton boats on Wu Song Kou. At that time, the route from the Suzhou River to here was incredibly busy.

V/A: How many houses were there altogether?

Z: Too many. Originally, the factory covered an area of the 106 acres, ranging from warehouse No. 1 to warehouse No. 12, all were all made of wood. In 1981, someone said he could rebuild the warehouse. That’s a thing one cannot officially talk about, because it had to do with a high-level contact in bureaucracy. The foundation of the warehouse had been made by wooden pegs that were 24 meters long and sized 50 cm x 50 cm. Once they pulled out all the wooden pegs, the Shanghai TV station came in for an interview, which alerted the Municipal Bureau of Culture in Putuo District Shanghai. Only then, they realized that it was such a treasure in terms of warehouses. The 24 meters long wooden pegs were so beautiful, probably made by the British, and so stable even after the warehouse was blown up by directed blasts twice in 2003.

The reason for using wood, just as in the Park hotel (the former tallest building in Shanghai), was the resistance of wood that avoided any sinking. The previous techniques were really efficient, old-time things were really wonderful, for sure. So was the furniture used in the halls. Tables, chairs and lounge chairs inside were all redwood. If people could live there now, they would probably all be white-collars, while in the old days, they were the housekeepers. During the Cultural Revolution, stealing, looting, knocking off happened everywhere.

There was a family that lived upstairs and a family that lived downstairs in the house that I am living now, two families were the majordomo who were in charge of the factory. Workers were workers, while majordomo were majordomo. Workers lived there, while majordomo lived here. Workers lived in bungalows, while the majordomo lived in two storey houses.

A worker is a worker, a steward is a steward. Workers live there, the management lives here. The houses of workers were cottages, the houses of stewards were two storey houses, a Tingzijian with a studio, a front parlor and a rear parlor, all very comfortable. Because of the Cultural Revolution, people were squeezing into the houses. You occupied one room, I occupied another and then all things went wrong. The houses were as beautiful as those in Xintiandi. There was a lot of robbery and occupying of houses going on during the Cultural Revolution. The houses should have belonged to the factory, but during the Cultural Revolution, the factory delivered all the space to the local Real Estate Management Office. For example, you occupied a space, you registered your name on a paper to state which room you were living in and then that room belonged to you. From the perspective of the local Real Estate Management Office, the workers of the factory were “robbers” occupying and dividing space.

I got my house when I was transferred here by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Grain in 1976. At that time, I was going to marry, but my parents’ house was too small, so the factory assigned a house to me. The previous owner was a couple, that house was too small for them as they had two children, while I needed a house for marriage and that was just enough for a new couple. After the coordination, they moved to a newer, bigger one. On the other hand, if I hadn’t had a good relationship with the leaders in the factory, I wouldn’t have gotten the house. If you said you wanted to get married and required for a house, you could do nothing if your leaders answered you that there was no house available. Because I was responsible for the machinery, I had a good relationship with various leaders, I got a house in the end. In most cases, that was impossible.

I still remember the first time I came here. This factory was really beautiful, full of plants. But now… Anyway, cadres have cadres’ ideas, regardless of the workers’ needs. I definitely have emotions for this place. It’s also my own fault that I left the factory. However, even if I hadn’t left the factory, I would also have been laid off. The factory has moved to Longwu Road, near Xupu Bridge. Because the land prices here are too expensive. The Swiss equipments also have been moved there. Actually, Buhler’s boss had joked to take me to Switzerland. But I know that a joke is just joke…

What Cannot be Said

Collaboration between Fei Art Center and Vision Forum


What Cannot Be Said brings together 4 young artists and curators to create a series of interviews that discuss the limits of what can be expressed – in words, in art or in science. It develops themes that are at the core of Vision Forum’s activities such as:

What are the boundaries of human knowledge? What role should art play? How can art be more visionary and give more to its audience? The project also addresses issues as, how do you deal with experiences and phenomena that cannot be expressed or explained.

What Cannot Be Said addresses questions related to censorship, what is the difference between an inner censorship and an exteriorly imposed silence? How can knowledge be safeguarded and passed on without becoming instruments of oppression?

What Cannot Be Said is firmly grounded in the culture of visual art and also approach the boundaries of what art can address, express and how it functions differently from other genres and sciences.

In keeping with the Vision Forum spirit the participants are invited to question academic forms of writing and also invite non-art professionals to be interviewed to ensure an interdisciplinary approach and to safeguard that the dialogue does not become to introverted, but deals with real issues in life.

Wang Dan
Angelo Romano
Liu Xinyi
Susanne Ewerlöf

The project will be published on the Vision Forum and FCAC websites in parallel in English and Chinese.

For more info about the project:

http://visionforumshanghai.blogspot.com/

http://www.feiartcenter.com/en/archive.asp/