FRIDAY 11 MAY – DRAWING TOGETHER
Avant-garde calligraphy performance artist Zhang Qiang was in residence at Tate Exchange 8-13 May 2018, offering special participatory performances on Friday 11 May. Collaboratively produced silk scrolls were hung on the floor of Tate Exchange.
At 1.30 pm a related 10-minute talk considered works from the Tate’s ‘Performer and Participant’ gallery, and Zhang Qiang staged a series of collaborative calligraphy performances with members of the public, producing lengthy silk scrolls thoughout the afternoon. The performance took place on a simple wooden stage, allowing two people at a time to work simultaneously on the scroll and offering a kind of ‘dance’ of mark-making. Conceptually, the hanging of the scrolls spoke to a key theme of ‘Building an Art Biennale’: to consider how artworks become situated beyond the museum context and in relation to the city and its people. The day ended with a Q&A with Zhang Qiang at 4.15 pm.
