On April 8, 2009, the first Beijing brainstorming meeting of the 2009 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-city Biennale of Architecture \ Urbanism was held at Beijing Angle Modern Art Gallery. It gathered together many architects, critics, artists and architectural journalists from Beijing. The meeting had two parts: one included Kong Yan’s introduction of the organizational structure of the Biennale, chief curator Ou Ning’s presentation of the theme ‘City Mobilization’, and architect Liang Jingyu’s explanation of the main exhibition sites for Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The second part was brainstorming and discussion.
Unlike previous years, the newly created Shenzhen Public Art Centre will serve as the center of operations for the 2009 Biennale. Curatorial plans are progressing quickly and the team is working to ensure that the problems identified in previous Biennales will be resolved this year.
The theme of the Biennale, “City Mobilization”, was put forth by Ou Ning as a working methodology. He hopes to “mobilize” business, government, and further investigate social phenomena, in order to put together a moving and effective Biennale exhibition. This year, the Biennale will ask architects and artists to create site specific pieces which will allow the public to take part in these interactive installations and projects. Additionally, to make the Biennale as welcoming as possible, symposia will be separated from exhibitions: theoretical and written content will be disseminated through lectures and publications, while the main goal of exhibitions will be to display visually powerful projects. The activities accompanying the exhibitions will also include an architecture film festival and on-site interactive architecture activities.
This year, the Biennale’s Shenzhen exhibition site is located primarily in the underground exhibition space below the Shenzhen Civic square, with satellite venues scattered in various areas in Shenzhen. The main site for Hong Kong will be the Hong Kong West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade. Both sites provide expansive spaces the exhibitions of the Biennale. The exhibition designer’s task naturally involves visualizing the curator’s concept architecturally, as well as coordinating with the participating architects and artists in order to provide them with the most appropriate spaces.
The start of the brainstorming session focused on the Biennale exhibition sites, the administration of the Biennale, and how to make it more welcoming. Beyond that, the architects put forward some creative ideas, for example Li Hu proposed that student participants put up tents or simple dwelling on the Civic square; Qi Xin suggested the idea that the entrance to the exhibition could be subtle enough that visitors would unconsciously enter, and sometimes may become exhibits themselves. The big question was asked: whose Biennale is this? It shouldn’t be an elitist cultural event. The purpose of the Biennale is vague, what everyone wants to express is often different. However, everyone is in consensus that the Biennale belongs to its exhibitors and to the public, and that it is a cultural event for the city.