Curatorial Statement: Biennale as Risk
by Ole Bouman, Creative Director
Today, Shenzhen is no longer just the Economic Special Zone as we know it. From a border city benefitting from production and distribution, it now is ready for transition into a place for ideas and knowledge, for creativity and wit. The production of the known, such as industrialized commodity, is no longer enough and Shenzhe
n is on the cusp of exploring the unknowns. For this it needs to take risk. So, obviously, the vehicle that has been founded to do just that –the biennale- decided to move on to new Urban Borders: all to ask itself, which new value can be found there? And if not found, how can it be created? A biennale conceived in this way, can not rely on the techniques upon which most biennales rely: to present stand alone showcases to as many people as possible, at attractive venues that people love to visit. This biennale is not one to only please an audience. Perhaps it can not make everybody happy and perhaps it will disappoint some. This biennale won’t just be a vehicle for content, it needs to make its vehicle into content. A biennale to shift its main venue from background into foreground. It taps into the energy of a new historical cycle in the modernization of the city, and it will contribute to that energy. The venue that has been found is at where Shenzhen borders the rest of the world: Shekou. The place where the modernization of Shenzhen began some 30 years ago, and which did its fair share to modernize China. Too great place to waste on tabula rasa. This time we can rely on existing qualities, identifying them, highlighting them, dramatizing them and, by doing so, begin a new practice of social and urban renewal. We also use our intuition, sensitivity, romantic inclination, and all our cultural subjectivities, to explore the potentials of the future and guide our visitors along a repertoire of human invention.
