The exhibition at Witte de With in Rotterdam is dedicated to the legacy of Hans van Dijk and his role in the historical development of contemporary art in China. Taking a documentary approach, the exhibition presents van Dijk’s life and work while highlighting artistic practices of the 1990s in China.

Dai Hanzhi: 5000 Artists at Witte de With will take place within the entire building and exhibition spaces, and will feature archival components, select diaries and correspondences of van Dijk, as well as his work on Ming furniture. The exhibition will also comprise of new commissions by artists who are known to have been very close to Hans van Dijk, including Liu Ding, Zheng Guogu, Zhang Peili, Wang Xingwei, and Ding Yi. Paying special attention to van Dijk’s substantial contribution to the emergence of contemporary art in China, the exhibition highlights his preference for conceptual and abstract art. Paying special attention to van Dijk’s substantial contribution to the emergence of contemporary art in China, the exhibition highlights his preference for conceptual and abstract art, as well as his interest in photography.

Vitamin Creative Space (Guangzhou) and BizArt (Shanghai), two contemporary art spaces that have been seminally influenced by Van Dijk’s model for a gallery and archive, will also be present with their own contributions to the exhibition. Information on the accompanying public program for this exhibition will be announced shortly.

Dai Hanzhi: 5000 Artists is an exhibition in two parts curated by Marianne Brouwer and developed with Defne Ayas (Director, Witte de With) and Philip Tinari (Director, UCCA), together with Venus Lau (Curator, UCCA), Samuel Saelemakers (Associate Curator, Witte de With), and Ian Yang (Curatorial Fellow, Witte de With). Curatorial assistance was provided by Andreas Schmid and Zhang Li.

Co-commissioned by Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing and Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam. The first part of the program, Hans van Dijk: 5000 Names takes place from 24 May to 10 August at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, followed by this exhibition Dai Hanzhi: 5000 Artists, from 4 September 2014 to 4 January 2015 at Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art.

Image: © Thomas Fuesser
Hans van Dijk (Beijing 1993)
1993
Courtesy of the artist and ShanghART Gallery Shanghai