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ISSN 1460-8537


to Du Zhenhjun discussing the Tower of Babel series


Du Zhenjun in his studio DU ZHENJUN by Olivia Sand


After finishing art school, Chinese artist Du Zhenjun decided to leave his native Shanghai in 1991 to pursue his career in France. Originally trained as a painter in France, he decided to expand his practice to include digital work, installations, and photography. Gaining international recognition for his photomontage series, the Tower of Babel, the diversity of his practice was further highlighted when he designed the poster for the tennis French Open in 2015. Today, drawing from all aspects of his practice, he is creating paintings that continue his investigation of human existence and, in a broader sense, the human condition. Based in Paris, Du Zhenjun (b 1961) looks back at his trajectory, sharing his views on painting, AI, and the difficulties artists are facing in China today.


Asian Art Newspaper: You made a name for yourself as a photographer with the series Tower of Babel. Subsequently, you decided to shift towards painting as you considered your work in photography to be completed. What prompted this transition? Du Zhenjun: Although I never thought of myself as a photographer, I was pleasantly surprised by how well Tower of Babel turned out. I was very happy with the result and, to me, the series, which consists of 14 pieces, represents a single body of work. After arriving in France, I expanded my practice to the digital arena obtaining a master’s in numeric space, and therefore my creative process leaned towards video, as the period between 2008 and 2015 was considered the golden age of the internet. Working on the Tower of Babel during that time allowed me to select and download countless images to include in my photographs. As such, the medium of photography was a fabulous tool to translate how I perceived the world. It was an ambitious endeavour as each photograph required at least three months’ work, meaning that I could not complete more than three to four pieces a year. It was a very intense period of my life, and all these hours sitting at the computer left me with excruciating neck and back pain. As a result, I almost


NEWS IN BRIEF


National Museum of Asian Art has endowed the leadership position in the museum’s Department of Conservation and Scientific Research. Tis endowment will support the newly named Welch Head of Conservation and Scientific Research. Te endowed position will help ensure that the department maintains its long-standing excellence and scholarship in the field and continues to advance conservation and scientific research worldwide. As the foremost centre in the United States for the care and scientific study of the arts of Asia, the department plays an important role in preserving cultural heritage, bringing new insights to historic objects and training the next generation of conservators.


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NAOSHIMA NEW MUSEUM OF ART JAPAN Te Japanese nonprofit Fukutake Foundation announced the construction of the Naoshima New Museum of Art in the Benesse Art Site Naoshima, a constellation of art museums and facilities across the Japanese islands of Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima in the Seto Inland Sea. Slated to open in early 2025, the museum will be helmed by director Miki Akiko, the former chief curator of Paris’s Palais de Tokyo. Located on a hill near the


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Honmura district of Naoshima, the 3,176-square-metre building is designed by Tadao Ando Architect & Associates and will have four


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gallery spaces spread across three stories (two basement levels and a ground floor), as well as a café area and outdoor grounds. Te museum will feature both permanent and temporary exhibitions and host a range of public programmes, including talks and workshops. Te museum will be dedicated to


showcasing contemporary art from Japan and Asia at large, establishing a collection of major artworks and new, site-specific commissions. Its inaugural exhibition will feature works by 11 artists and groups, such as Japanese artist Aida Makoto, Dutch Filipino video artist Martha Atienza, Chinese pyrotechnic artist Cai Guo-Qiang, Tokyo-based art collective Chim/Pom from Smappa!Group, and Indonesian visual artist Heri Dono


JAMEEL PRIZE LONDON Te V&A and Art Jameel have announced further exhibition details of the shortlisted projects for the 7th edition of the Jameel Prize, the V&A’s international award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition. Te triennial competition, founded in 2009 and worth £25,000, focuses this year on moving image and digital media. Te shortlisted artists for Jameel Prize: Moving Images are Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, Jawa El Khash, Alia Farid, Zahra Malkani, Khandakar Ohida, Marrim Akashi Sani, and Rami Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian (as a collective). All of the artists


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engage with aspects of Islamic culture, society and ideas, and their relevance to contemporary life. Spanning film, sculpture,


photography, installation, sound, performance, and VR, the finalists’ works engage with issues relating to water, ecology, landscape, and spirituality, and the ways in which extractive industries and political dynamics shape the environmental and social fabric of the Middle East and South Asia. Te artists address how history is written – examining the making of monuments and their deconstruction through acts of iconoclasm, and forging alternative approaches to museums and collections. Many works offer personal testaments to community, resilience, and connection, with hand-drawn animation and photography used for powerful storytelling. Te finalists’ work will be


displayed at the V&A South Kensington from 30 November 2024 until 16 March 2025.


GLOBAL SINOPHOTO AWARDS Te Global SinoPhoto Awards (GSPA) annual photography contest, which showcases a shared Chinese culture worldwide through photography and promotes photographers internationally, is marking its fifth year with an exhibition to be held at Christie’s London from 13 January to 2 February 2025, presenting a year of reflection that aligns with the celebration of the Chinese New


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Year. For the first time, the awards are introducing a special People’s Award in this anniversary year. Te exhibition of about 70


photographs, entitled Culture Identified, will be selected and curated from the wide pool of entries from GSPA 2020-24, without prejudice to previous winners. Over the last four years, the Awards have collected thousands of images from hundreds of photographers from more than 40 countries. Te People’s Award will be chosen by visitors to the exhibition and through social media.


NEW BOOK FAIR FOR HONG KONG Revived for 2024, Firsts Hong Kong brings the former China in Print fair under the Firsts umbrella to be held at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum from 6 to 8 December. Te show includes international dealers offering a wide variety of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, prints, and works on paper relating to Asia and beyond. Almost 30 dealers from the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, the US, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands will be showcasing works specifically selected for the fair. One of the most important photo books of its time is John Tomson’s Illustrations of China and its People, which includes a series of 200 photographs of China with letterpress descriptions of the places and people represented. Tis first edition (1873-1874) in four volumes is offered by Shapero Rare Books.


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