Curators:
Julia Kabat
Sakhisizwe Gcina
Artist:
Dachan
South Africa is home to an estimated 300 000 – 400 000 Chinese residents and is the largest population outside of China in Africa. The earliest Chinese immigrants arrived from Batavia with the Dutch settlers in the Cape in the 1600s.
Dachan: The Art of a Spiritual Era Brightens All Living Things is an exhibition with a multidisciplinary showcase of traditional Chinese artistic techniques such as ink wash paintings and calligraphy with contemporary nuances by Chinese artist, Dachan.
His work is about the possibilities of traditions. They are also reflections on contemporaneity, and more importantly, they facilitate intercultural conversations.
The artist’s conceptual works – bordering on the subconscious and spiritual are highly distinctive and rich in content, with an intimate and sensitive amalgamation of poetic, calligraphic and pictorial aspects.
Dachan believes in the importance of creating universal conversations, specifically focusing on the context of life and the human condition. As an artist, part of his global journey is to share the experience of Buddhist spiritual culture, guided by the theory of unity and presented in the form of art.
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.
This exhibition is supported by the Chenshia Museum and the Scheryn Art Collection.