The 4th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art: Being Theoria

The 4th Hangzhou Fiber Art Triennial, an international art event co-organised by The China Academy of Art, will be on view until 4 December 2022 in Hangzhou, China. This year’s theme is “Being Theoria”

The 4th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art opened at Zhejiang Art Museum in October 2022. The works are presented in the six exhibition halls on the 1st and 2nd floors, as well as outdoor and public areas of the museum.

The Triennial will co-curate a special project “Pure Reason” (净因, Jing Yin) with Hangzhou Museum, located in the city center on Wushan Hill (Liangdao Mountain), which will use the indoor public space of the Hangzhou Museum and outdoor space surrounding the pedestal of a stone pagoda pillar from Jingyin Temple, and invite artists to create works in situ.

Visit the official website for more.

Being Theoria

The theme of this year’s art event is “缓存在/Being Theoria”, which is the continuation of the first show "Fiber Visions" in 2013, second show "Weave & We" in 2016, and third show "Boundless Encounters" in 2019. Just like the words "text" and "textile" in English are both derived from the Latin word “textus”, the Chinese expression for fiber (纤维) contains two Chinese characters, "纤"and "维", which both shares the same Chinese radical"纟". The curatorial team draws on this radical system of Chinese characters, builds on an archetypal approach, and seeks to propose a multidimensional and interwoven return to and reflection on the meta-questions and meta-concepts of "art" to zero in on the metaphysical dimension of fiber/fabric and the invisible link between art and the world. At its heart, this curatorial approach suggests rebranding "art" as "being theoria", which alludes to the simultaneous presence of being and non-being.

Read more on the Curatorial Statement of “Being Theoria” here

About

Founded in 2013, The Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art is an international exhibition platform dedicated to the research, creation and presentation of contemporary fiber art. Initiated by the Contemporary Fiber Art Research Institute (formerly Maryn Varbanov Tapestry Research Centre), China Academy of Art, the Triennial is co-organized by the China Academy of Art and the Zhejiang Art Museum. The themes of the Triennials are “Fiber Visions” (2013), “Weaving & We” (2016), “Boundless Encounters” (2019), and “Being Theoria” (2022).

Check some of the artists’ artworks below.

*Photo credits to:

• Ann Hamilton, lineament 2022
• Constanza Pina, Khipu: Electrotextile Prehispanic Computer 2018
• Tong Wenmin, Flicking 2022
• Yang Chi-Chuan, Small House 2021