Prince Claus Award ceremony for the Chinese conceptual artist Liang Shaoji organised by the Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the Main Showroom of the Dutch Culture Center in the Jing’An District in Shanghai (date: March 7^th, 2010, time: 11:15hrs. - 12:00hrs, address : 800 Show, No. 800 Chang De Road Jing’An District (close to Chang Ping Road).  

Prince Claus Fund

The Prince Claus Fund, founded in September 6th, 1996  and based in Amsterdam, establishes active co-operation with partners globally in the field of culture and development. Prince Claus who was the honorary chairman of this Fund, has been succeeded in this function by his two sons, His Royal Highness Prince Friso and His Royal Highness Prince Constantijn. For more information about the Prince Claus Fund please consult the website: www.princeclausfund.org 

Culture and Nature

Through its 2009 Awards Programme, the Prince Claus Fund highlights and celebrates significant contributions in the interaction between Culture and Nature and introduce new ideas and approaches to environmental issues.  

Since the establishment of the Prince Claus Fund in 1996, every year  Prince Claus awards are presented to artists, intellectuals and cultural operators, who have made outstanding contributions in the field of culture and development. The awards -  independent non -governmental awards - are presented to individuals, groups and organisations around the globe who have made outstanding contributions. From the 73 nominations which were received in 2009, the international jury recommended only 11 recipients for the 2009 Awards, amongst one of them the artist Liang Shaoji. 

Quality is a sine qua non for a Prince Claus Award. The quality of a laureate’s work is assessed in professional and personal contexts and for its positive impact on wider cultural and social fields. The creation of interactions and links between different cultures, the fostering of commonalities and the initiation of shared cultural currents are highly valued. The Prince Claus Awards recognise artistic and intellectual qualities that are relevant in the contemporary context. They legitimise experimentation and innovation, recognise audacity and tenacity, support inspirational developments and seek to enhance their beneficial impact. 

The international composed jury recommended 11 recipients for the 2009 Prince Claus Awards. One of them is the Chinese conceptual artist Liang . 

Conceptual artist Liang Shaoji creates unique meditations on nature and human existence. Graduating in textile studies at the Zhejiang Art Academy, Liang felt limited by the grid of warp and weft. Drawn to raw silk, he began to breed silkworms- symbols of generosity and endurance in Chinese culture - and incorporates them in artworks by setting them to spin their thread around objects. For instance in Candels (Nature Series no. 87) , silk threads surround pieces of bamboo filled with wax and placed in a line that evokes funerals and Buddhist practices. A complex meditation on giving, Candles refers to a 9th-century Chinese poem that likens the candle’s last drop of wax to the silkworm’s last bit of thread. Here, the generosity of the wax is supported by the bamboo, which symbolises integrity, in turn surrounded by a protective silk cloud. Liang explores aspects of life and human qualities that influence social and cultural development. His works have been exhibited at the Venice (1999), Istanbul (1999) and Shanghai (2000, 2006) biennales. Liang Shaoji is awarded for his evocative artworks that offer a meditative approach in which art becomes nature and nature becomes art, for his artistic integrity in working outside the mainstream, and for his insightful investigation of the ethics of the human condition and relationship with nature.  

The other 10 artists who received a 2009 Prince Claus Award were the Colombian architect Simon Vélez (he received the 2009 Principal Prince Claus Award)  and furthermore Gaston Acurio (Lima), El Anatsui (Ghana), Sammy Baloji (DR Congo), Kanak Mani Dixit (Nepal), Doual’art (Cameroon), Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y Centroamérica (Nicaragua), Jivya  Soma Mashe (India), Santu Mofokeng (South Africa and Desiderio Navarro (Cuba). 
 

ShanghART Gallery is pleased to announce the release of ShanghART Videotheque with more than 200 works. The Videotheque, located in the gallery in Shanghai and Beijing, features over 200 Chinese videos. Also a pdf of the Videotheque catalogue will be available for download at http://www.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/allPdfs.htm