VAG appoints advisers to focus on Asian art?

 

 

VANCOUVER SUN NOVEMBER 2, 2015

 

 

The Vancouver Art Gallery hosted the popular Forbidden City exhibit of Imperial Chinese artifacts last fall.

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Art Gallery has unveiled a new, seven-member Asian Art Council, and announced two new appointments to its fledgling Institute of Asian Art, in a bid to further advance the city’s reputation as a leader in promoting Asian art and culture.

The moves are the latest in a series of initiatives in recent years that has seen the gallery aggressively focus on Asian-themed exhibits.

The new art council, made up of seven scholars from China, India, Japan, South Korea and the U.S., will advise the Institute of Asian Art on how to enhance the visibility of Asian art locally.

Daina Augaitis, the art gallery’s chief curator and associate director, said the scholars were chosen because of their respective expertise.

“Acknowledging a sense of place is one of the principal values of the Vancouver Art Gallery,” said Augaitis. “We aim to increase our audiences’ engagement with Asian art, particularly art from China, Japan, Korea and India.”

The Institute of Asian Art was founded in the fall of 2014, and shortly afterward, the gallery hosted the high-profile “Forbidden City” exhibit featuring rare artifacts from Imperial China.

On Monday, gallery officials announced the addition of Chinese Canadian Artists Federation and Centre A co-founder Zheng Shengtian as the institute’s adjunct director, as well as Diana Freundl as the institute’s first curator solely focused on Asian exhibits. Freundl was previously the curator at Shanghai’s Museum of Contemporary Art.

Vancouver Art Gallery director Kathleen Bartels said in a statement that Zheng has previously cooperated with the gallery, adding that Zheng will be “spearheading” the Institute of Asian Art’s initiatives on public education, advanced scholarship, and collection acquisition.

Vancouver has potential as a North American hub for Asian arts, given the its frequent interactions with the Asia-Pacific region. Other institutions like UBC’s Museum of Anthropology have moved in a similar direction, hosting exhibits from Taiwan and Indonesia in the next year. The Vancouver Art Gallery itself will welcome the works of Korean artist Lee Bul starting this fall, and those of New Delhi’s Bharti Kher next summer.

Officials have raised concerns about the lack of space that prevents larger, higher-profile exhibits from coming to Vancouver. The gallery recently unveiled a controversial concept design for a new home, in which space would be set aside for Asian art. The fundraising goal for the facility is $350 million.

Former Asia Pacific Foundation president and CEO Yuen Pau Woo is one of the founders of Vancouver-based China Global, a non-profit society that promotes Chinese art and culture worldwide. Woo said he is hopeful that Monday’s announcements will draw more attention to Vancouver.

“The more focus there is on Asian art and culture — and the more people doing it — the better for our city,” said Woo, whose group is partnering with the gallery to host the chief Asian curator of New York’s Guggenheim Museum next January. “The Vancouver Art Gallery’s increasing interest in this area is encouraging. It’s terrific they are doing it, and I hope they succeed.”