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Participating artist arrested at Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture for tribute to Chinese dissident

2017-12-21T13:45:00-05:00

The artist Hu Jiamin and his wife, who said they were French nationals, were seen being taken away by plain clothes police on Friday night from the event, Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported. It was not known if the couple were still under detention.

The Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture opened over the weekend. Organized in two parts, half the biennale takes place on the Hong Kong side and is organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects while the other, taking place in Shenzhen, is put on by the city government. While the local government's involvement has helped turn this portion of the biennale into a big-budget affair with imaginative proposals and large venues much to the embarrassment of the considerably smaller Hong Kong side, it is now being seen to also undermine the possibility of open debate at the biennale.

HU JIAMIN‘s mural Timed Discrepancy (2017). Courtesy Cao Yuxue.

The French-Chinese artist Jiamin Hu and his wife, Marine Brossard, were asked to present a mural on the outside wall of a historic temple as part of the biennale's 'Art Making City' program, in which artists from around the world were invited to explore the notions of the street, home, public space, social production and more. As part o...

7th edition of the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture opens tomorrow in Nantou Old Town

2017-12-14T12:52:00-05:00

Currently the only biennial exhibition in the world to be based exclusively on the set themes of Urbanism and Urbanization, the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture in Shenzhen will open for its 7th edition tomorrow, Dec 15th. Initiated in 2005 by the Shenzhen Municipal Government and joined by neighboring Hong-Kong in 2007, the co-organized biennale addresses both the material aspects of urban development as well as the many social aspects of city living in the context of rapid growth.

Curated by Hou Hanrou and the founding partners of URBANUS, Liu Xiaodu and Meng Yan, the exhibition's theme this year is “Cities, Grow in Difference." With more than 200 exhibitors including MVRDV, the French artist Pierre Huyghes, the Dutch artist Rob Voerman and the Chinese architect John Lin, participants will explore the urban concept of “coexistence” and its role in the future development of urban villages and their place among the swiftly developing cities of China.

Held in Nantou Old To...

Bonus Session: "Scenes from the Post-Geographic City"

2016-02-03T09:02:00-05:00

Back in December of last year, the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture launched in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, featuring an exhibition curated by Los Angeles-based critic Mimi Zeiger and designer Tim Durfee, representing Art Center’s Media Design Practices program. Their show, “Now, There: Scenes from the Post-Geographic City”, winner of the Biennale’s Bronze Dragon, reconsiders what makes up today’s idea of a “city”, specifically regarding our digital and virtual presences, as well as contemporary issues of globalized economies.

The exhibition features work by Besler & Sons, Walton Chiu, Tim Durfee and Ben Hooker (with Jenny Rodenhouse), John Szot Studio, m-a-u-s-e-r, and Metahaven, as well as texts by Joanne McNeil, Enrique Ramirez, and Therese Tierney. Check out some of their work below.

Mimi and Tim joined Paul and I in Archinect’s podcasting studio to talk about the exhibition, and introduce a discussion recorded in Shenzhen among the participants of “Now, There" and one of the...

Out of Shenzhen: Catalog #1 of the Los Angeles Biennale of Architecture/Urbanism

2014-04-24T12:42:00-04:00

Was it:

Possible for a group of architects, artists, educators, writers, publishers to fly to Shenzhen and start a dialog and call it a Los Angeles Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, a.k.a. LAB A/U? (Yes)

A first for architecture and urbanism for Los Angeles? (Yes)

Possible to bee line the assumptions, suspicions, silent treatments and doubts? (Yes)

Real? (Yes)

Possible to talk about the aura of a city via on the road biennale? (Yes)

And...

Could the nomads' opinion be harnessed? (No)

LAB A/U did not happened in a vacuum even though it seemed that way. The participants, hosts and audience have thought so.

Is this a one time deal? (No)

Can I join when it convenes again? (No , you need to be curated)

Does it cost to participate? (No)

Will LAB A/U continue indefinitely (Yes, there are no plans to shut it down at the moment)

Will it be always nomadic? (Yes, even when it is in LA)

Is its nomadism in spirit or action? (Both)

Will it be critical and threatening? (Yes, but ...