Cape Town: On 13 March 2019, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) will present an exhibition by Chinese artist, Dachan titled The Art of a Spiritual Era Brightens all Living Things.
Supported by the Chenshia Museum, the exhibition will showcase the ink wash paintings and other works by the celebrated contemporary artist, poet, calligrapher, and monk, Dachan.
The Art of a Spiritual Era Brightens all Living Things exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA is part of a global journey that has already presented in Asia and Europe.
For the Chenshia Museum, bringing Dachan’s work to Africa was essential as a show of both the relationship between cultural leaders in China and Africa, as well as a way of honouring the large Chinese community in South Africa.
The ties between Chenshia and Africa go back to the early 1980s when company founder, Dabing Chen first landed on the continent and fell in love with its places and people. Over the past decades, these connections have become more resilient, intimately tying Chenshia to Africa, both growing stronger, richer and more beautiful.
“This journey of spiritual culture on a grand scale is guided by the theory of unity through art,” says Jane Liu, Chenshia’s Chief Operating Officer.
Dachan works are highly distinctive, rich in content, superbly executed and highly distinctive, and the conceptual, poetic, calligraphic and pictorial aspects are intimately integrated. This exhibition seeks to address the quiet power of ancient ritual in a contemporaneous manner, as presented in Dachan’s calligraphic work, to harness notions of harmony and deep cultural understanding.
“Dachan’s work has a profound spiritual impact on the viewer, through his amalgamation of traditional Chinese artistic techniques with subtle contemporary nuances – a partnering between the old and new. His work is far-reaching through its universality and the way in which it interrogates the spirituality of humanity,” explained co-curator Julia Kabat.
“I am fascinated with the way in which Dachan has managed to create artworks that are equally conceptual as they are aesthetically mesmerising through his use of ancient techniques with universal concepts. His work is captivating through the harmonious marriage of form and colour,” added co-curator Sakhisizwe Gcina.
The Art of a Spiritual Era Brightens all Living Things is on show from 13-26 March 2019 on Level 2 at Zeitz MOCAA.
Exhibition title: The Art of a Spiritual Era Brightens all Living Things
Artist: Dachan
Exhibition curator: Julia Kabat and Sakhisizwe Gcina
Exhibition dates: 13 March – 26 March 2019
Media Contacts:
Emma King
Interim Head of Communications and Marketing
emma.king@zeitzmocaa.museum
+27 (0) 72 010 7704
Lauren Hess
Communications and Marketing Manager
lauren.hess@zeitzmocaa.museum
+27 (0) 79 695 6201
About the Chenshia Group:
The Dachan project is generously supported by The Chenshia Group.
The ties between Chenshia and Africa go back to the early 1980’s when founder Dabing Chen first landed on its soil and fell in love with the continent and its people. He could see the potential all around him; the African Renaissance of the early 1990’s was reminiscent of the rise of China ten years before. Over the past two decades, these connections have become more resilient, intimately tying Chenshia to Africa, both growing stronger, richer and more beautiful.
The Chenshia Museum collects and exhibits works of art from around the world with the objective of preserving, protecting and promoting art for the benefit of all. The collection includes both contemporary and historical works, Tibetan Tangka, watercolours, oils, prints, charcoal and pastels, as well as Chinese traditional painting, calligraphy and sculpture.
About the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA):
Zeitz MOCAA is a not-for-profit contemporary art museum that collects, preserves, researches and exhibits contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora; hosts international exhibitions; develops supporting educational and enrichment programmes; encourages intercultural understanding; and guarantees access to art for all.
The museum’s galleries are dedicated to a large cutting-edge permanent collection; temporary exhibitions; and Centres for Art Education, Curatorial Training, Performative Practice, Photography, and the Moving Image.
Zeitz MOCAA was established through a partnership between the V&A Waterfront led by CEO David Green–acting on behalf of Growthpoint Properties Limited and the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), represented by the Public Investment Corporation Limited (PIC)–and collector Jochen Zeitz. The building was reimagined through a design by the acclaimed London-based Heatherwick Studio.
In its first year of operation, Zeitz MOCAA welcomed over 350 000 visitors, 100 000 of whom were free admission as part of the museum’s “Access for All” initiatives.
The members of the Zeitz MOCAA Board of Advisors are David Green and Jochen Zeitz (Co-chairs), Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, Jody Allen, Jonathan Bloch, Kate Garwood, Isaac Julien, Pulane Kingston, Wangechi Mutu, Gasant Orrie, Roger Ross Williams, Albie Sachs and Anton Taljaard.