No longer unseen voices at Venice Biennale

China will present its largest collateral exhibition with the most participating artists at Italy's 55th Venice Biennale.

Entitled Voice of the Unseen, the exhibition is running until Nov 24 at a 5,000-square-meter space opposite the Arsenale.

Running since 1895, the Venice Biennale is one of the most important international art fairs, dubbed "the Olympic of art" and "the mother of biennale". China first participated in the 51st Venice Biennale with a national pavilion in 2005.

Global presence

As an important component of the biennale, the collateral exhibition is open to submissions from non-profit art institutions worldwide and independent curators. It is selected on academic value and originality.

Co-organized by Guangdong Art Museum and Sichuan Tomorrow Arts and Culture Investment Management Co Ltd, Voice of the Unseen features artworks from 156 Chinese artists and groups under the nine categories: Memory, History, Underclass, Body, Family, Village, Ruins, Scenery and Sorcery.

The presentation's comprehensiveness also echoes "The Encyclopedic Palace" - the theme of this year's biennale.

"The exhibiting artists cover generations are aged from their 20s to their 70s. The presentations are quite diverse, such as performance art," says Luo Yiping, director of Guangdong Art Museum and the exhibition's Chinese curator.

His Italian working partner for the exhibition is Gloria Vallese.

All the artworks are recommended by an academic committee composed of 12 renowned art critics, aiming to demonstrate the complexity and variety of Chinese contemporary art.

"Chinese contemporary art in the West sometimes only means a few names, symbols and images. The fragmented presence cannot reflect the real look of Chinese contemporary art. Many excellent Chinese artists and their works deserve a chance to be seen," says Wang Lin, chief curator of the exhibition.

At the exhibition site there is a temporary library of more than 1,000 Chinese artists' portfolios.

An international academic forum themed on the interpretation of Chinese contemporary art was held on May 30.

About 20 Chinese curators, critics and art historians gave speeches that address subjects such as the State system, historic venation and the quest for value.