Exhibition Documenting Consequences of Fossil Fuels Use Opens in Shanghai
SHANGHAI, November 10, 2015 — COAL+ICE, a documentary photography exhibition and project of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations, opened today at the Vanke Center, Xuhui in Shanghai. The exhibition features 32 artists from China, the United States, Malaysia, Canada, Russia, Hungary, Poland, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom whose work visually narrates the complex chain of consequences triggered by mankind’s use of fossil fuels.
The upcoming COP21 meeting in Paris adds to the importance of the exhibition, says Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations and Executive Producer of COAL+ICE.
“What the U.S. and China do about the carbon emissions will determine what happens to the glaciers of the Himalaya and the great rivers of Asia that find their headwaters in this remote region of the world. And thus it is more important than ever for the two countries to find new ways to collaborate to meet the daunting challenge of climate change,” said Schell.
The exhibition is co-curated by Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas and Jeroen de Vries, who is also the exhibition designer.
COAL+ICE was first presented at Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing in 2011, and then travelled to rural Anhui province where it was installed in a Ming dynasty ancestral hall during the 2012 Yixian International Photo Exhibition curated by Ou Ning. This third iteration in the subterranean level of the newly completed Shanghai office development is once again a complete transformation of space.
According to de Vries, “Designing this exhibition for three radically different locations—a gallery, an ancient wooden structure, and a would-be parking garage—has been a unique and fulfilling challenge. All three locations provided poignant interactions between content and space.”
The Shanghai installation adds two new works to the exhibition, including a compilation of videos created by mountaineer and filmmaker David Breashears, who has spent the past eight years documenting the effects of climate change on the glaciers of the Greater Himalaya. Breashears mounted six cameras to a helicopter and flew over Mount Everest and Malaku while simultaneously shooting photos every three seconds. The images were stitched together to produce interactive flights which show five of the six tallest mountains in the world. A stunning three-screen projection about the rise of sea levels photographed by Kadir van Lohuizen, titled “Where Will We Go?,” has also been added.
The exhibition will run until March 1, 2016.
Participating artists: Alfredo D’Amato, George Mallory, Robert Wallis, Bruce Davidson, Gleb Kosorukov, Song Chao, Builder Levy, Ian Teh, Stuart Franklin, Cameron Davidson, Jimmy Chin, Thomas Hoepker, Clifford Ross, Jonas Bendikson, Vittorio Sella, Daniel Shea, Lewis Hine, W. Eugene Smith, David Breashears, Major Edward O. Wheeler, Wang Mianli, David Hurn, Nadav Kander, Wu Qi, David Seymour, Niu Guozheng, Yang Junpo, Yang Shaobin, Geng Yunsheng, Yang Robert Capa, Kadir van Lohuizen, Yang Shaobin, and Yu Haibo.
Participating Agencies, Galleries and Organizations: China Features/China Photo Archive, Magnum Photos, m97 Gallery, Panos Pictures, Visu Artists, Long March Space, NOOR, and GlacierWorks.
Presented by Asia Society with Vanke Shanghai and WAV.
Location: Basement of T1 building, Vanke Center Xuhui, No. 55 Dingan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China.
上海市徐汇区定安路55号
徐汇万科中心T1地下展厅
About Asia Society
Asia Society is the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. Across the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, the Society provides insight, generates ideas, and promotes collaboration to address present challenges and create a shared future. Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution with headquarters in New York, and centers in Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Mumbai, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, and Washington, DC.
About the Center on U.S.-China Relations
To help forge a more constructive bilateral relationship, Asia Society has established the Center on U.S.-China Relations with a generous gift from the late Arthur Ross. In seeking new ways of building mutual understanding between the U.S. and China, the Center is undertaking projects and events which explore areas of common interest and divergent views between the two countries, focusing on policy, culture, business, media, economics, energy and the environment. The Center is based at Asia Society's New York City headquarters and works closely with other Asia Society Centers around the world.
Media Contact:
Leah Thompson
COAL+ICE Producer
[email protected]