SCAF – Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation

As part of Sydney Writers’ Festival,
Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation proudly presents

Exploring Yang Zhichao’s Chinese Bible

a conversation between Dr Claire Roberts and Nikki Anderson.
Introduced by Dr Gene Sherman AM

Over three years, experimental Chinese artist Yang Zhichao frequented flea markets in China and sourced 3,000 personal diaries and notebooks, discarded by their owners. These diaries span the first 50 years of the People’s Republic of China and form the landmark installation, Chinese Bible (2009) at the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (SCAF). The collection of diaries provides a remarkable insight into that period of history through notations made by ordinary people. The Sydney exhibition of Chinese Bible  (2009) is the first time the work has been displayed in the West. Chinese art expert Claire Roberts speaks with Nikki Anderson about Yang Zhichao’s work and the significance of Chinese Bible (2009).

Saturday, 23 May 2015
3.30 – 5 pm
Conversation to commence at 4 pm

at Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation
16–20 Goodhope Street Paddington NSW 2021

RSVP by Friday, 22 May 2015
02 9331 1112 or bookings@sherman-scaf.org.au

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Dr Claire Roberts is a historian of Chinese art and a curator. She is Senior Lecturer in Art History at the University of Adelaide, and Visiting Fellow at the Australian Centre on China in the World (CIW), Australian National University, Canberra. Claire has published widely on Chinese art and visual culture, and curated numerous exhibitions. Her recent books are Photography and China; Go Figure! Contemporary Chinese Portraiture; Friendship in Art: Fou Lei and Huang Binhong; and Other Histories: Guan Wei’s Fable for a Contemporary World. Documentation of an Exhibition.

Nikki Anderson is a literary consultant. She has worked as an agent, rights manager, copyright consultant, festival and events coordinator, and currently manages the Australian Embassy Beijing’s annual Australian Writers’ Week.

Image: Yang Zhichao
 Chinese Bible (detail) 2009
3000 found diaries, dimensions variable
Collection: Gene & Brian Sherman, Sydney
Photo: Jenni Carter, Art Gallery of New South Wales