Growing House
Benzie Building, Manchester School of Art
Manchester Metropolitan University
Opening Tuesday 17th October, 17:30pm
Benzie Building, Manchester School of Art
Manchester Metropolitan University
Opening Tuesday 17th October, 17:30pm
Growing House is an international co-collaboration between artists from China and the UK.
After its inaugural showcase in Being Theoria at Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art in 2022,
the second iteration of Growing House is now to be re-constructed within Manchester School
of Art’s Vertical Gallery. Each time the work is installed, it connects with new co-collaborators
and new forms, encouraging an ever-expanding network of young artists. In this iteration,
Growing House intertwines with the Textile & Place and ELIA conferences held at
Manchester School of Art.
Initiated as a cross-cultural Unit X project and nurtured into fruition by the partnership between
China Academy of Art and Manchester School of Art, the project intricately combines
ideas from lead artist Zhixian Zhu (supported by the British Council & ESEA Contemporary)
and an ensemble of collaborators from both China and the UK. Directed by Professor Assadour
Markarov and curated by Kate Egan, Growing House uses textiles to narrate concepts of
connection, evolution, and collectivism.
Concept
“Growing house” is a poetic response or antidote to the complexity of living life now,
the exhausting fast pace of society driven by speed. Dr Stephanie Brown suggests
that ‘the mass of incoming information has eroded our attention and our creativity.
People have less time to reflect on anything as they become dominated by a need to act,
a need to be online, robotically always checking. Multi-tasking stimulates internal chaos
and fragmented attention.’ “Growing House” is a labyrinth of ‘moments’ in flux – these
moments are shored up by scaffolding allowing the house to be altered - a state change,
in play, in chaos in contemplation and in perspective. Gaston Bachelard(1) once said,
‘the house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows
one to dream in peace,’ perhaps to shield us from the storm.
(1) Gaston Bachelard , “The Poetics of Space”
Prof Assadour Markarov
Assadour Markarov Ph.D. is an artist, educator, and curator, Associate Professor at National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria, Head of Textile Department. International lecturer - Japan, UK, Ireland, and Finland. Currently a Professor at China Academy of Art at the Fiber Art Department and “Varbanov” Institute of Art Tapestry (IATV), School of Sculpture and Public Art in Hangzhou, China. Curator of the second edition of Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art 2016, China. Director of ‘Growing House’ exhibition Being Theoria: The 4th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art at the Zhejiang Art Museum, China.
Zhu Zhixian
朱芷娴
Zhu Zhixian is an artist working in Hangzhou, China. She was awarded a British Council Reconnecting: Artmaking and Mobility grant with ESEA Contemporary to develop the second iteration of ‘Growing House’ in the UK. Zhixian was lead artist for the inaugural ‘Growing House’ shown at the internationally significant exhibition Being Theoria: The 4th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art at the Zhejiang Art Museum, China. As lead artist responsible for conceptualising the installation, Zhixian directed the complex collaborative work bringing together emerging young artists and students from Hangzhou & Manchester through virtual conversations and mutually compatible relationships, collaborating through this exchange partnership.
Teams
China: Assadour Markarov
Artistic team:
Ren Zhe
Zhu Zhixian
Li Ying
Luo Shilin
Gong Ziqing
Chen Binsheng
Tang Chenkai
Yao Wanqing
Mariya Ganeva
UK: Kate Egan
Artistic team:
Amber Yearsley
Anna Louise Bulloch
Lilly Beards
Aqsa Khan
Esme Powel
Sam Meech
After its inaugural showcase in Being Theoria at Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art in 2022,
the second iteration of Growing House is now to be re-constructed within Manchester School
of Art’s Vertical Gallery. Each time the work is installed, it connects with new co-collaborators
and new forms, encouraging an ever-expanding network of young artists. In this iteration,
Growing House intertwines with the Textile & Place and ELIA conferences held at
Manchester School of Art.
Initiated as a cross-cultural Unit X project and nurtured into fruition by the partnership between
China Academy of Art and Manchester School of Art, the project intricately combines
ideas from lead artist Zhixian Zhu (supported by the British Council & ESEA Contemporary)
and an ensemble of collaborators from both China and the UK. Directed by Professor Assadour
Markarov and curated by Kate Egan, Growing House uses textiles to narrate concepts of
connection, evolution, and collectivism.
Concept
“Growing house” is a poetic response or antidote to the complexity of living life now,
the exhausting fast pace of society driven by speed. Dr Stephanie Brown suggests
that ‘the mass of incoming information has eroded our attention and our creativity.
People have less time to reflect on anything as they become dominated by a need to act,
a need to be online, robotically always checking. Multi-tasking stimulates internal chaos
and fragmented attention.’ “Growing House” is a labyrinth of ‘moments’ in flux – these
moments are shored up by scaffolding allowing the house to be altered - a state change,
in play, in chaos in contemplation and in perspective. Gaston Bachelard(1) once said,
‘the house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows
one to dream in peace,’ perhaps to shield us from the storm.
(1) Gaston Bachelard , “The Poetics of Space”
Prof Assadour Markarov
Assadour Markarov Ph.D. is an artist, educator, and curator, Associate Professor at National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria, Head of Textile Department. International lecturer - Japan, UK, Ireland, and Finland. Currently a Professor at China Academy of Art at the Fiber Art Department and “Varbanov” Institute of Art Tapestry (IATV), School of Sculpture and Public Art in Hangzhou, China. Curator of the second edition of Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art 2016, China. Director of ‘Growing House’ exhibition Being Theoria: The 4th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art at the Zhejiang Art Museum, China.
Zhu Zhixian
朱芷娴
Zhu Zhixian is an artist working in Hangzhou, China. She was awarded a British Council Reconnecting: Artmaking and Mobility grant with ESEA Contemporary to develop the second iteration of ‘Growing House’ in the UK. Zhixian was lead artist for the inaugural ‘Growing House’ shown at the internationally significant exhibition Being Theoria: The 4th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art at the Zhejiang Art Museum, China. As lead artist responsible for conceptualising the installation, Zhixian directed the complex collaborative work bringing together emerging young artists and students from Hangzhou & Manchester through virtual conversations and mutually compatible relationships, collaborating through this exchange partnership.
Teams
China: Assadour Markarov
Artistic team:
Ren Zhe
Zhu Zhixian
Li Ying
Luo Shilin
Gong Ziqing
Chen Binsheng
Tang Chenkai
Yao Wanqing
Mariya Ganeva
UK: Kate Egan
Artistic team:
Amber Yearsley
Anna Louise Bulloch
Lilly Beards
Aqsa Khan
Esme Powel
Sam Meech