Animamix Biennale 2015-2016–Spacing Out

by+Kelly+McIlvenny+(Australia)

At 7：00 p.m. on May 14， 2016，“Animamix Biennale 2015-2016– Space in Mind” was officially launched at Museum of Contemporary Art （MOCA）， Shanghai， with participation from artistic institutions from home and abroad including Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre， City University of Hong Kong， Yinchuan Modern Art Museum， South Koreas Daegu Art Museum， and Art：1 New Museum in Jakarta， Indonesia. Thirteen invited artists from around the globe deployed diverse creative mediums and technologies such as animation， painting， sculpture， and new media to reconstruct space， time， narration， and world views.

The Animamix Biennale has established a model that starkly contrasts previous editions. Its unique format features a number of artistic exhibitions hosted by various partner institutions at staggered times and under the central direction of a chief curator. The Biennales for Daegu Art Museum， South Korea， Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre/City University of Hong Kong， and Yinchuan Modern Art Museum were held respectively in October 2015 as well as March and April 2016， while that at Art：1 New Museum in Jakarta will be open in September 2016.

Responding to Jeffrey Shaws idea that，“…every authentic poetic project is directed towards knowledge，” the exhibition began with an exploration into exhibits capable of guiding thinking about new knowledge， which inspired MOCA to propose the theme， “Space in Mind.” “Every artist has created his or her own space， which leads to a unique world of mind，” illustrates Curator Wang Weiwei.

Its also worth mentioning that the event marked the first showing in China for every participating foreign artist， and the majority of works were crafted especially for the space in MOCA – a rigid challenge for both artists and exhibitors.

Along with exhibits of contemporary artists， MOCA also offered Gala Presentations of outstanding animated shorts by artists from China， France， Poland， Germany， and Japan. It has provided space for animamix studio projects for visitors from every age group， including children， to learn directly about and experience the entire animation process.

The exhibition will close on July 17， 2016.