【GYLD Talk】Michael Xufu Huang：Art Transcends Cultural Boundaries

【GYLD Talk】Michael Xufu Huang: Art Transcends Cultural Boundaries

Hi everyone. Hi everyone online. Thanks to the GYLD and CCG organizations for giving me a platform to showcase you X Museum, and also a platform for global cultural exchange and making a voice for Chinese art in the global art world.

X Museum is at the forefront of showcasing the future. X Museum was born in the digital age, a time full of infinite possibilities and boundary-breaking innovations. In this Internet age has allowed for collision between Eastern and Western aesthetics, and also, we can become a representation of the Z Generation. And this is, as you can see, our space in Beijing. At X Museum, you will witness art as a language of international exchange, bridging gaps of geography, age, gender, race, and reality. Art should be inclusive, and we provide platforms for young people, women, ethnic minorities, and artists of the new digital age through a series of exhibitions and programs.

The first exhibition at our new space in Beijing is a collection show of other pink works in our collection. So, the title is called “X PINK 101”. It’s an exhibition highlighting the diverse cultural patterns of our time. This exhibition brings together 49 works of international and domestic artists from our museum collections, including some of the most known young global artists today, like Nicolas Party, Christina Quarles, and also some of the best Chinese talents, like Zhang Zipiao, Ji Xin. So we really hope, you know, by bringing artists all over the past century and from 17 countries and regions, we can really make Chinese artists a part of the global conversation and not feel discluded from the global attention.

And X museum will also have the message Art For Everyone Art For Everywhere. So during last year, during the pandemic, we have done a few initiatives to bring art to be seen by the more public and globally, even though exhibitions cannot be held at the time. So, on the left of the PPT is our “X Mobile Museum” project, where we housed an artwork created by Chinese artist Tong Kunniao using discarded materials to be placed in a van. This van is parked at the Sanlitun underground garage, offering a free exhibition accessible to all. Visitors also participate by bringing old items, which the artist transforms into new creations. Contributors are recognized as co-creators, with their names featured on the exhibit’s signature, fostering a collaborative journey from “old items” to “artworks” in artistic exploration.

And on the right. Last year, we were honored to have Chinese male tennis player Wu Yibing as our international ambassador, showcasing artwork in our collection by the Chinese new ink art master Xu Lei. This work is also selected for the Venice Biennial to be in the Chinese pavilion. So, by printing these artworks on Wu Yibing’s sports jerseys, presenting them as a medium to a global audience.

So, this is precisely what X Museum aims to achieve: breaking boundaries through the power of art and collectively creating a better world. Art is for everyone, and everyone can participate in the creation and appreciation of art.

X Museum believes in “Exhibiting the future, focusing on the now”. We hope 50 years later, X Museum will become a microcosm of our era, witnessing the fusion of love and beauty.

Thank you everyone for listening.