Hou Hanru 2008-01-09
Asia Art Archive,
Hong Kong
“There appeared at that time various translations of dramas, including the Theatre of the Absurd. Particularly influential was a magazine called World Literature, which was first published in the 1970s. Several authors published in that magazine left a deep impression on me. One was Sartre, another was [Federico Garcia] Lorca, the Spanish poet, and the surrealists. Kafka also greatly influenced me enabling me to recognize that the world could be a pretty absurd place; at once extremely interesting and fun, but also strange and somewhat random. The spirit of the 1980s was, on the one hand, very idealistic, and on the other hand…not really cynical…how to say it? A recognition that ultimately a human life is an utterly absurd affair. Therefore, plays such as Waiting for Godot were extremely important.”
Biography:
Hou Hanru (b. 1963, Guangzhou) is an internationally renowned art critic and curator.
In the 1980s, Hou studied Art History at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing. In 1985, Hou assisted Maryn Varbanov in organizing the ‘Tapestry Art Exhibition’ in the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC). In 1988, alongside Yang Jiechang, Chen Tong and Tang Songwu and others, Hou staged the performance Language, Communication, Man in the Sun Yat-Sen Library in Guangzhou. That same year, he translated and published Concepts of Modern Art by Nikos Stangos, and the following year, he was one of the organizers of the ‘China/Avant-Garde Exhibition’ in Beijing.
After moving to Paris in 1990, Hou became an active curator and has organized and co-organized numerous important exhibitions such as ‘Cities on the Move’ (Vienna, Bordeaux, New York Long Island, Denmark, London, Bangkok and Helsinki, 1997–2000); the second Johannesburg Biennale (1997); the Venice Biennale’s French Pavilion (1999); ‘Z.O.U. – Zone Of Urgency’ at the Venice Biennale (2003); the Chinese Pavilion’s ‘Everyday Miracles’ at the Venice Biennale (2007); the third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Australia, 1999); the third Shanghai Biennial (2000); the Gwangju Biennial (South Korea, 2002); the second Guangzhou Triennial (2005); the 10th Istanbul Biennial (2007); and the 10th Lyon Biennale (France, 2009).
Widely published, Hou is currently the Artistic Director of Rome's National Museum of 21st Century Arts (MAXXI).
