WAZA (art collective)

WAZA is an emerging artist collective founded in 2002 and based in Wuhan, China. This collective is a platform for experimental new media art. From large-scale sculptural installations that incorporate photography, video, sound and new media technology to site-specific video and sound projects, this young effort is at the forefront of a new generation of local artists pushing the definition of art to a higher level.

WAZA has participated in international festivals including: Sonar 11th Barcelona International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia (2004); Music and New media Conference at the Centre De Culture Contemporanea in Barcelona (2005); and the 37th EDition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam organized by WORM in the Netherlands (2008). WAZA received first place at the Chang Zhou International Animation Festival (2005), and participated in Creative Experimental Media-an educational program organized by the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing (2008). WAZA held solo exhibitions at Beijing Tokyo Art Projects and Arario Beijing in 2008. Videos

2009

• Video Where is Who was exhibited in Dublin during the International Guerilla Video Fest (2009).

• August 18 2009, the Floating Chinese Musicians installation, originally installed along the East Lake in Wuhan, from September 2009 it has moved to Shanghai for the inauguration exhibition of the Minsheng Art Museum.

Floating Chinese Musicians is a sound installation and media archive of 30 folk musicians who are preserving a dying tradition while surviving on China’s periphery. Since March 2008, WAZA has concentrated on the reality within China’s inland regions and has had extensive contact with roaming folk musicians to document their lives, performances and creative process. After compiling an extensive archive of primary materials including photographs, sound recordings, video and text, WAZA has selected 30 musicians who roam the country performing in parks and public spaces to represent China’s migrant or ‘floating’ population. This project aims not only to preserve their voices and raise awareness about a disappearing art form, but also sheds light on one of the most controversial and sensitive social problems in modern China.

Since the beginning of China’s economic reform period, which began in 1979, the nation has embarked on a modernization campaign at an unprecedented rate. China’s race to modernize has focused on the first tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou while the inland regions have been neglected, leaving many people isolated from social and economic development. Floating Chinese Musicians brings these issues to light. Self-taught and influenced by growing up during the height of economic reform in Wuhan, a second tier city, WAZA is attempting to preserve a tradition while drawing attention to the ‘floating’ population that is being cast-aside.

Floating Chinese Musicians is created from recycled wood, mp3 players, speakers, sound recordings and a metal frame. It is a project conceptualized by WAZA and supported by Intelligent Alternative.

Selected Exhibitions

1998

Concert, the International Symposium of Electronic Arts 98, Liverpool, UK

2004

Sonar 2004, 11th Barcelona International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art, Barcelona, Spain

2005

Speaker, Music and New Media Conference at the Centre De Cultura Contemporania De Barcelona (CCCB), Barcelona, Spain

2006

Beyond Experience: New China!, Arario, Beijing.

2007

WAZA KUYA, Tokyo Gallery+BTAP.

2008

37th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, WORM, Netherlands.

WAZA UHCMP (Unborn Heroes Cenotaph Media Program), Tokyo Gallery+BTAP

Creative Experimental Media, Ullens Center (UCCA)

There is No Story to Tell, Tang Contemporary Art, China

ShContemporary 08’, Shanghai Exhibition Center, China

Uncertainty, Yuanfen New Media Art Space, China

WAZA No Wave, Arario Beijing, China

Other Programs, Multi-Media Art Activity Week, Fine Arts Literature Art Center

Hello Sadness, Tang Contemporary Art, Bangkok

2009

International Guerrilla Video Festival (IGVFest) Dublin 2009, Dublin，Ireland

Open House: Post Space, ChART Contemporary, Beijing, China

Floating Chinese Musicians, Intelligent Alternative, Wuhan, China

Normality, Fine Arts Literature Art Centre, Wuhan, China

Warm Up, Minsheng Art Museum Inauguration Exhibition, Shanghai, China

Artist talk and film demonstration, Deutschland und China - Gemeinsam in Bewegung, China

Selected References

http://waza.me http://www.chinasupercity.com/news/view_news.php?news_id=5190 http://www.igvfest.com/Video_Festival/polaroiddublin/fullscreen.html The Brooklyn Rail Art 21 ARTFORUM Time Out Beijing China Supercity Japan

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