The world-class contemporary art museum in Xinjiang, China

Report from the Xinjiang Art Museum in the province’s capital, Ürümqi.

It’s definitely world-class, but enigmatically, it is not mentioned in any of the leading Chinese or Western tourist sites and does not have a homepage. But the kind local Chinese guided me to it when I asked whether I could see some modern multi-ethnic/cultural Xinjiang art somewhere in that huge capital. Here is a Chinese site about it.

I was overwhelmed and spent five hours walking around its many halls. It was full of visitors—local art lovers, families with children, art students, and young fashion-dressed girls who used artworks as backgrounds for selfies and group photos. There is free entrance, like at most other museums in China.

This article was picked up by China’s major global media, CGTN, and published here in a slightly shortened version.

You’ll see in the right-hand photo that I stumbled upon the 4th Xinjiang. China International Art Biennal, organised by China’s Ministry of Culture and the People’s Governments of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and its Department of Tourism. So it’s a central-provincial endeavour that also hopes to attract tourists – like, say, the Venice Biennale.

However, many Chinese I spoke to in the Eastern parts have never visited Xinjiang, and there are very few foreigners in Xinjiang. During those five hours on September 15, 2024, I saw no other non-Chinese.

I hope that will change. After a week’s travel around the province, Xinjiang has so much to offer visitors. Situated in the North-West, Xinjiang is China’s largest – and autonomous – province, with 25 million inhabitants, of whom 4-5 live in the capital. The province is populated by more than 40 ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Uyghurs and the Han Chinese. This autonomous province is 80,000 sq km larger than France, with breathtaking nature and extremely diverse cultural expressions.

And that richness, that diversity, is very well exhibited at the Xinjiang Art Museum – like in the many other places (counties and cities) I visited.

Apart from changing exhibitions, there is a fine collection of Xinjiang art over the last 100 years, artists – as far as I understand – of all nationalities. Now read here what was on show. Click to enlarge:

Below are the first artworks I stopped at: vertically, one of the typical patterns from Xinjiang cloth where the old pattern is braided by electric cords, and – horizontally on the floor – the same pattern digitally programmed and ever-changing as a connected light sculpture; in other words, the old and the new Xinjiang melting.

Then some other multi-media, interactive, digital – and more traditionally contemporary artworks.

A word of caution! In this article, I merely show some examples to give you the flavour. I do not have the necessary knowledge to offer you any interpretations or art history backgrounds to the works – but it is important to me to say: See what I have seen! Simply because I believe it was all truly amazing – truly overwhelmingly diverse and of the highest quality in my book. The museum itself is so well built for art, and the exhibitions so delightfully arranged.

I can only ‘complain’ that quite a lot of the art was not accompanied by English texts and that I was unable to find a cafeteria or restaurant. Also, there were far too few chairs/benches to sit down and meditate in front of the artworks. (If you are interested in the artists’ names, I may provide some but far from all).

Click on each to enlarge:

And more, light/video installation and ‘classical’ abstract art with lots of experiments with materials, techniques and expressions. Here and there you may feel an inspiration from Western abstract art – and saying this does not detract from the quality and originality of these artworks, on the contrary.

Click to enlarge:

Then there were several sections with art from the last 20-30 years, collections of works by one Xinjiang artist after the other – again, click to enlarge:

Furthermore, there were halls full of older artworks and art magazines. Enlarge:

Onwards to some – as I see them – works with a focus on religion, Buddhism in particular. The first is a close-up excerpt.

And now, over to a small collection of exquisite sketches and portraits that caught my attention. Do you see Chou Enlai?

Finally, visitors to museums today mostly see artworks through their mobiles. I do, too; otherwise, I could not share these with you! But most people do not write articles and use their shots like I do here. So, when do they look at the works they took shots at? Perhaps the reason why so many see art through phones rather than through their own eyes is that they feel they can “see” more in a short time, can take the art with them home and see them at their leisure. Or share them with friends and family who were not there? There may be many reasons.

But – one may indeed wonder what people – even interested people – manage to see and reflect on while shooting pictures almost while they walk through an exhibition.

Well, the Chinese are no different from Westerners in this respect. They shoot and see – perhaps – later. I guess the average time devoted to each artwork is some 5 seconds.

And then there is another purpose, and that has nothing to do with the art as such. That is about shooting selfies and other images with artwork as a backdrop. Here are some examples…

This one is interesting, at least for me as an elderly Western gentleman… The young woman takes selfies while moving around the museum, but she uses an app that allows her to manipulate her looks or even change her persona.

These are top-rated beauty camera apps, and you may read more about them here, where you’ll learn that “Chinese beauty camera apps are mobile applications that use advanced technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the user’s appearance in real-time. These apps offer various features such as skin smoothing, face slimming, eye enlargement, and makeup filters to create a perfect selfie. The user can also adjust the intensity of the effects to achieve their desired look.

Chinese beauty camera apps are incredibly popular, with millions of users downloading and using them daily. These apps have become an essential tool for Chinese consumers who are increasingly interested in beauty and self-expression.”

Huh, the new kind of (self)portrait art by AR-AI selfies. Reality isn’t what it used to be – and it never was…

While I was looking at some paintings, the young lady below approached me and asked by gestures whether it was OK that her girlfriend took a photo of herself with me. Of course, you’re welcome, I said, and she took 2-3 shots of us. Then I gestured back that I wanted to take one of her, and these two snapshots are what came out of that in a maximum of a one-minute encounter across culture and generation – after which she got shy or could not help laughing…I’m not sure which.

But what a beautiful attitude to a stranger. Sadly for me, she did not speak English and I not Chinese. This is anyhow the kind of attitude the visitor to China will meet again and again.

Culture, politics and artful bridgebuilding

Let me summarize it all with a bold, intuitive prediction and some words about the – desperate – need for dialogue and bridgebuilding:

Xinjiang could well become one of the world’s leading multi-cultural hubs in a few years from now. It is itself multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, and it thrives visibly in terms of socio-economic development, not the least thanks to huge investments from the central government in Beijing.

Add to that that Xinjiang has eight neighbours, amazing natural beauty and a rich history related to the historic Silk Roads, and today, is the gateway for China to the rest of the world via the New Silk Roads or what is called The Belt & Road Initiative, BRI, which China launched in 2013. Today, it is humanity’s (and probably history’s) largest cooperative effort with 140+ participating countries – just not those we call the Western world, NATO and the EU.

I work to build bridges. To do citizens diplomacy. To further dialogue – as a peace researcher and art photographer. Xinjiang is very open and keenly interested in building bridges at all levels with people in the West. I know that from conversations at all levels, including the province’s leadership.

I’d like to suggest that people in the art world take some concrete steps – there could be many ways – to build art bridges between China in general, Xinjiang in particular and the West – even though Western politicians at the moment prefer confrontation. I am afraid that we shall have to do it without them people-to-people in one area after the other such as art – or sports or science or…

‘The times they are a-changing’ and so are the spaces. The young Xinjiang woman above is destined to live an good life in a culturally very dynamic society. I see the treasures of modern art at this magnificent museum as an indicator of that better emerging future.

And why not? The synergy between rapidly growing innovation and production on the one hand and the art world on the other has changed the world before…

Note
Proudly, I can add that this article was re-printed in a slightly shorter version in the leading Chinese global media, CGTN. See it here.