[image courtesy Scott O'Hara]  

The contribution of the Chinese-Australian community to Australia is immense – incalculable even. Seven hundred thousand Australians claim Chinese heritage and the Chinese New Year celebrations in Sydney are the largest outside China.

By way of celebrating this and exploring issues of identity, perception and exchange, the largest survey exhibition of Australian-Chinese contemporary art is being held at Sydney Olympic Park. It forms a key part of a cultural exchange project between Sydney and Beijing as host cities of the Olympic Games in 2000 and 2008 respectively.

From Mao to Now at the Armory Gallery, Sydney Olympic Park, is a landmark exhibition in a number of ways. Never before has so much contemporary work reflecting on China been collected together and exhibited in Australia. Nor has this number and range of contemporary work by Chinese Australian artists. The exhibition also features 65 examples of Chinese Government propaganda posters dating from 1949 to 1976 that have never before been seen in Australia. There are also significant works by non-Chinese Australian artists that have not previously been exhibited, including a full-scale rubbing of a Chinese tank by Ian Howard, alongside Xu Wang’s enthusiastic portrait of Howard and Michael Esson creating the work.

The casual visitor to the Armory Gallery over the next few months might wonder exactly why such a groundbreaking and monumental exhibition has been mounted by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority. It is sometimes forgotten that in its original conception the modern Olympic movement was as much about culture as it was about sport and indeed most modern Olympic Games have featured a complete cultural Olympiad alongside the more recognised sporting contests.

One thing that has not been well addressed in most instances, however, is any kind of lasting arts or cultural legacy.

The obvious exception to this is Barcelona where the seed of the arts-led reinvigoration of the waterfront can be traced back to the Olympic Games. At Sydney Olympic Park, arts and culture has been an essential - if low profile - element of the 2000 legacy. This includes the ever growing utilisation of Acer Arena as a concert and entertainment venue (now one of the highest grossing indoor entertainment concert/sporting venues in the world, recently listed behind only Madison Square Garden), the continuing public art program and the creation of a distinctive arts and cultural precinct at Newington Armory.

Thinking through this idea led me to explore the possibility of establishing a program of cultural exchange with other Olympic Host cities. After discussing the possibility with agencies in Barcelona, London, Athens and elsewhere, I was able to initiate a pilot program with enthusiastic partners in Beijing. Using limited resources, we have succeeded in creating a very diverse and multi-faceted exchange program.

First, we identified a key contact, Catherine Croll, who had previously been involved in our community cultural development program and was travelling to China on an Asialink fellowship. The Authority engaged her as our agent, alongside a partly Australian media agency in Beijing, to explore possibilities. Ultimately, Kate was commissioned to curate the exhibition, creating it from scratch around the offer of works from the Shanghai Poster Museum and works created by artists involved in the exchange.

At the same time, we assisted our former Artist in Residence Ying Chang on her residency at Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, funded by the Australia China Council. Ying created a film of her experiences on the exchange titled Beyond the Dream, which features in the From Mao to Now exhibition.Ying will also be talking about the artistic process and meaning behind the work when she presents at the Asian Arts society of Australia on Saturday 26 July.

Then we formed a partnership with a new emerging artists’ facility on the outskirts of Beijing at Dagaocun. We sent three other artists, also alumni from the Armory residency program - Allan Giddy, Paul Du Moulin and Anthony Mravicic - to live and work there for up to six weeks.
Allan and Paul worked together to create the first exhibition at the Dagaocun arts precinct, showcasing the work they created during the residency. Allan has established a connection point in Beijing that will enable a real-time audio artwork to operate throughout the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The work will collect the sound of a Beijing streetscape and transmit it to Sydney where it will be broadcast through the public domain audio system at Sydney Olympic Park. Paul created several works for From Mao to Now including Move, an installation incorporating demolition rubble and eviction notices from the Chinese Government for people living on land where the new Olympic facilities have been built.

The artist in residence facilities at Newington Armory have been made available for the use of Chinese artists reversing the exchange, commencing with Yang Pei Ming, Director of the Shanghai poster museum. He has brought with him a selection of 65 original propaganda posters, including a focus on sporting posters, from his museum to appear in From Mao to Now. One of particular interest promotes China’s involvement in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games in which China did not, ultimately, take part.

Alongside these fascinating posters are works by Jia Wei Shen, who originally lived in China and created some of the propaganda posters. And shortly, Australian-Chinese artist Pamela See will return from Beijing to take up a residency at the Armory, prior to delivering a program of traditional paper cutting and calligraphy workshops during the July school holidays.

Other exchange initiatives include the donation of Wang Shao Jun’s sculpture of Baron De Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, by the people of Beijing through the Beijing-Woodward Cultural Exchange Centre, and the creation of a permanent commemoration of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on the Olympic boulevard at Sydney Olympic Park.

Finally, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be providing some funds to assist in sending a version of the exhibition to Beijing where it will appear at Red Gate gallery in May/June 2009.

This may include highlights from the current exhibition, such as works by William Yang, George Gittoes, Laurens Tan, Fan Dongwang’s iconic dragon paintings and Fu Hong’s portraits Cathy Freeman and Mao’s Last Dancer.

Before then, however, you can see From Mao to Now at the Armory Gallery, Jamieson Street Sydney Olympic Park on weekends until Sunday 28 September or everyday from 12 to 20 July in the school holidays between 10am and 4pm. Admission and parking is free.

Visit the website for more information.