The exhibition The New Legend, the third chapter of the LOUIS XIII Heritage Project Art Initiative will open at Start Museum from November 2 to 17, 2023.The Chinese title includes the character ‘薪’ (xin), evoking the idiom ‘薪火相传,’ which embodies the propagation of cultural life—the legacy of a craft, a sense of terroir, a cultural landscape, a spirit—how do they endure through time and continue to flourish?
Five contemporary artists and artist group were commissioned to embark on a journey to explore cultural life based on the themes of ‘transmitting,’ ‘remembering,’ ‘nurturing,’ ‘origins,’ ‘renewal,’ and ‘inheritance.’ They explored the hometown of the Fu Ship, delved into Yangzhou’s woodcut printing tradition, and immersed themselves in the world of Cantonese opera, engaging deeply with the cultural heritage. They also delved into the Three Rivers Source region of Qinghai and the Cognac Grande Champagne terroir in France, engaging in conversations with craftsmen and artists.
Is it Beauty, Loyalty, or Love?
11’13’’｜2023
LOUIS XIII Heritage Project III The New Legend
Jiū Society’s work Is it Beauty, Loyalty, or Love? is based on narrative collages drawn from the Chinese classics Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin. It incorporates elements of Cantonese opera performance and adapts two famous Cantonese opera segments,‘The Peach Garden Oath’ and ‘Wu Song Fights the Tiger’, to create a trilogy that blends modern urban emotions. These three parts are titled The Three Brothers of the Peach Garden, Wu Song Teases the Tiger, and Black in Black.
Through their exploration in Guangzhou, which they called their’Journey of Harmonious Sounds,’ Jiū Society gained a deeper understanding of Cantonese opera’s aesthetic system, folk elements, and the artisanal spirit that underpins the art form. Their work continues the artists’ exploration of stage performance art while delving into the native Cantonese opera of Lingnan and examining ancient wisdom and aesthetics.
This creative process explores the fusion of mythology and natural science, cultural values like loyalty, emotion, heroism, and righteousness, as well as the laws of historical development and strategic thinking. Jiu Society, with its unique and humorous art language, integrates Cantonese opera performance art, unfolding dreamlike reversals and delving into the subtle relationships and emotions of characters, dramatically narrating a contemporary fable about beauty, loyalty, and love.
Is it Beauty, Loyalty, or Love?
11’13’’｜2023
LOUIS XIII Heritage Project III The New Legend
INSTALLATION VIEW
Photo by: Lv Hengzhong and Che Kai, HZ Architect Photography Studio
LOUIS XIII Heritage Project III The New Legend
Artist｜Jiū Society
In 2015, Fang Di, Ji Hao, and Jin Haofan formed Jiū Society, a young art collective rooted in Shenzhen. In 2021, working and living in Guangzhou, Zhang Yin joined the group. As the Greater Bay AreaJiū Society considers themselves an experimental product of “Reform and Opening Up”, and also the sons of “dispersed culture”. In the name of nonsensical hedonism, despite occasional anxieties and doubts, Jiū feels very good. So they tried to make themselves heard by making an uncertain and small sound, Jiū.
Founded in 2015 by three Shenzhen-born artists, Fang Di, Ji Hao, and Jin Haofan, Jiū Society absorbed its fourth member, the Guangzhou-born artist Zhang Yin, in 2021. The group revolves around the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area, a brand-new region forged by the Party and the people where the four artists all grew up and witnessed wave after wave of immigration, fortune and ideas. Jiū Society expects to shake up a few things in this new reality and turns up their volume by just a bit.
Jiū Society was founded in 2015 in Shenzhen. Their recent solo exhibitions include: “H2B”, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2023; “Snow White & Her Seven Friends”, Studio Concrete, Seoul, South Korean, 2022; “Lost in Shanghai”, SYSTEM, Shanghai, China, 2021; “Your Life, My Dream”, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2020; “Your Life, My Dream”, OCT Boxes Art Museum, Foshan, China, 2020; “Lost in Shenzhen”, the Center for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester, UK, 2019; “GAS STATION IX: da qi da luo”, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2017; “Lost in Shenzhen”, 33 Artspace, Shenzhen, China, 2016.
They also attended the following group exhibitions: “The New Legent”, Start Museum, Shanghai, China,2023; “Art Within Reach I”, APSMUSEUM, Shanghai, China, 2023; “Year by Year”, DEJI Art Museum, Nanjing, China, 2023; “Warehouse Story VIII-On Your Mark!”, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2022; “Huayu Youth Award Finalist Exhibition 2021, The Perfect Flaw”, Sanya Art Center, Sanya, China, 2021; “How do we begin”, X Museum, Beijing, China , 2020; “HOT FLOWS-Pearl River Delta Arts Retrospective in Macau”, Post-Ox Warehouse Experimental Site, Macau, China, 2019; “HOT BLOOD”, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2019; “Shanghai Biennale: Proregress”, China, 2018; “Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture”, Shenzhen, China, 2017.
