From Underground to Public Space: Performance Art in China since the Emergence of International Performance Art Festivals

Performance art (xingwei yishu) is characterized by exploiting the artist’s body as the medium of site-specific, time-based art. It emphasizes the process, artist’s experience and interaction with audience. It remains marginal in the contemporary Chinese art field. This art form is not widely accepted by the public and the art circle, especially the formal art institutions and media. It was banned in 2001 officially and the situation of performance art was further aggravated in 2003 when the chief editor of Art (Meishu) magazine concluded in a seminar that ‘performance art is not art’ (‘xingwei yishu genben bushi yishu’). This seminar will examine the ways in which International Performance Art Festivals held in the P.R.C. from 2000 to 2005 led to a change of practice and dissemination of performance art that helps to legitimize this art form in the contemporary Chinese art field. Along with the emergence of International Performance Art Festivals, how performance artists respond to this phenomenon and deal with controversies will be explored. Lastly, I will elaborate on the impact of these festivals upon the development of performance art in the P.R.C