成都Chengdu

Chengdu Residents’ Chengdu

The last 30 years have been the high-water mark of urbanization in Chengdu, and millions of people have flooded into the city. Over half of them have become new Chengdu residents, but there is something more important than this migration: the internal drivers of the city and the “people” who have shaped its character and working mechanisms. As waves of change have swept the city, old and new Chengdu residents have come together in the present moment and space to build a new collective narrative. The exhibition title implies two versions of the city: Chengdu as a physical space and Chengdu built by its residents. When we deconstruct various elements of a city’s culture, we see that creative people are an important force that make it unique. These creators—who reflect their city—and the things they produce form a cultural milieu only found in Chengdu. Poets, musicians, artists, members of the media, architects, designers, and other workers in various creative industries—their energy brings culture into every facet of urban life, shaping a new common language that influences the rest of society and allows more people to enjoy and participate in building the city’s cultural life.

I believe that there has never been a more opportune moment than the 15th anniversary of A4 Art Museum to present an exhibition that systematically examines the urban culture around A4 and the humanistic forces for Chengdu’s rapid development over the last 30 years. We see how the city has perpetuated historical legacies and developed the spirit it has today. The collective contributions of everyone who lives here have been integral to Chengdu’s urban development. In this exhibition, I have invited eight co-curators from Chengdu’s cultural, artistic, and innovative fields to join me in co-creating. Together with a group of young architects from Chengdu, we are embarking on a curatorial practice for the exhibition hall. We hope to bring these different perspectives into the discussion about Chengdu’s unique cultural traits, heterogenous cultural landscape, and future vision of urban civilization. With this exhibition, we wanted to invite more urban creatives, community partners, and members of the public to begin their perceptual explorations in the exhibition hall before moving into the real and existing city. We want to build a way of looking at urban culture through action and practice and work to create a new experience and understanding of the city.

Chief Curator: Sunny Sun