Rockbund Art Museum 上海外滩美术馆

Active from 2020 - 2022, CURTAIN was a long term research project, which articulated through a series of exhibitions, discursive platforms and cross-institutional collaborations. Seeking to go beyond the fixed definition of an exhibition, the project looks to expand the dialogue with artists through the gathering of critical thinkers and practitioners from other social and cultural fields. The concept of CURTAIN retains many manifold meanings and forms of engagement with the public. A curtain can be both a material and immaterial device shimmering between various stages and ways to gather around a collective performance.

By embracing the manifold meaning of CURTAIN, the project was articulated through thematic “satellites”. Each satellite emphasize a distinct research arc and entry point to convene and collaborate within this ambitious platform:

CURTAIN 1: Re-enacted the Visible and the Invisible

Re-traced historical memories and future paths for art, architecture, pedagogical models by exploring issues related to what was visible or invisible in technological platforms and social structures at that time.

CURTAIN 2: Alternatives to Imperialism

Looked at alternative models proposed by smaller-scale ecologies and cultures at the periphery to the dominant systems as inspiration for future change. This exploration helped us understand the interdependence of different localities and the infrastructures that connected them together, but also the importance of transnational exchange from these overlooked perspectives.

CURTAIN 3: Concealment/Destruction/and the Unveiling of an Image

We explored the mutability of the curtain as a concept that undertook different interactions as a physical divide to more fluid interpretations: from wall to water, light to shadow, fabric to screen. In order to understand the fragile condition that informed our temporal experience with images, it was also important to consider the invisible relationships that influenced the possibilities and limits of how an institution could function.

CURTAIN 4: Misidentified the Self and Other

This research extended our inquiry into how we understood and conceptualized what was different and Other to us. We looked at this performative relationship between individual and collective forms of identity to challenge the confines of how subjectivity was expressed through different narrative and spatial structures.

作为一个长期的研究项目，“帘幕”在2020-2022年间呈现一系列展览、话语平台和跨机构合作。该项目颠覆传统的展览概念，延展与来自不同社会和文化领域的艺术家、批判性思考者和实践者的对话。“帘幕”的概念保留了观众参与的多种含义和形式，它作为一个既具物质性又具非物质性的设备，在一次集体表演的不同舞台间闪烁着微光。

拥抱“帘幕”的多重含义，该项目以“卫星”为主题呈现。每颗卫星强调了一个独特的研究轨迹和切入点，它们在这个野心勃勃的平台内相聚与合作：

帘幕1：再现可见与不可见

通过探索当代信息技术与社会结构中可见与不可见的问题来重溯艺术、建筑和教育模型中的历史记忆和未来路径。

帘幕2：替代帝国主义

将视线投向处于主流边缘的小型生态和文化系统所提出的替代模式，将它作为未来变革的灵感。这不仅帮助我们理解不同区域以及连接它们的基础结构之间的互相依赖性，也帮助我们从这些被忽视的角度理解跨区域交流的重要性。

帘幕3：隐藏/毁灭/揭露形象

探索“帘幕”的多重意涵，将不同的互动作为其流动意涵中的物理划分：从墙到水，从光到影，从纤维到屏幕。为了理解脆弱的环境及其图像映射出的时间经验，考虑影响机构运作可能性和限制的不可见关系也极其重要。

帘幕4：误判自我与他者

这项研究拓展了我们对于“不同”和“他者”的理解，并将其概念化。我们着眼于个人和集体身份之间的表演关系，以挑战主体性在不同叙事和空间结构表达中的限制。