Exhibitions

POST__: Contemporary International Poster Retrospective

Theme: POST__

“Post__: Contemporary International Poster Retrospective” focuses on avant-garde concepts in international graphic design, illustrates the contemporary landscape of poster design, and explores alternative possibilities of poster design as a medium for communication. As a retrospective study in the “post-poster media age,” the exhibition aims to analyse, reflect and shed new light on contemporary graphic design.

“Post__: Contemporary International Poster Retrospective” will exhibit 300 award-winning posters from the past 30 years. The collection will demonstrate an exploration of global cultures and styles: a selection of posters from previous international graphic design competitions (donated by partner organisations) will be shown, as well as iconic Chinese posters produced after 1978. Such curatorial blending lends a unique documentary-like characteristic to the exhibition, making it one of the most inimitable retrospectives to take place.

As one of the prime design events of the Icograda World Design Congress Beijing 2009 ( HYPERLINK "http://www.beijing2009.org" www.beijing2009.org), “Post__: Contemporary International Poster Retrospective” will take place in China’s National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA). It will expose the contemporary scene of poster design to both Chinese and international design professionals, as well as the general public, and hopes to instigate design dialogue between Eastern and Western audiences.

Time：
The exhibition will take place on Oct 26–Nov 26 2009. An exhibition catalogue will also be launched, whilst the exhibition itself will tour other cities around China following the event in Beijing.

Venue：
The exhibition will take place in the gallery of the NCPA’s Underwater Corridor. The NCPA itself, designed by renowned French architect Paul Andre, is a new cultural and artistic landmark at the heart of the old city of Beijing. Its modern structure and facades add vibrancy to the rapidly changing urban scenery traditionally occupied by the Great Hall of the People, Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City.

NCPA’s largest venue, the 2,398-seat Opera House, boasts the most advanced staging equipment. The Concert Hall, with 2019 seats, provides outstanding acoustics, whilst the drama theater, with 1035 seats, is equipped with hi-tech audio-visual equipment. Approximately 10,000 people visit the National Theatre daily; potentially, tens of thousands of visitors will come to see the works on show. NCPA is open from 8:30am to 10:30pm everyday.

Background：
Hosted by the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), the biennial Icograda World Design Congress will be held in Beijing, China for the first time. From 24-30 October 2009, some 100 speakers and thousands of delegates from around the globe will gather in a cross-disciplinary Congress, with communication as its central theme, offering five days of exchange and dialogue within the international design community.

Icograda is the world body for professional communication design. Founded in 1963, it is a voluntary assembly of organisations concerned with graphic design, visual communication, design management, promotion, education, research and journalism. Icograda promotes the vital role of communication design in society and commerce, and unifies the voices of graphic designers and visual communicators worldwide.

The theme of this year’s Congress is “Xin.” Literally signifying human speaking, and hence Message/Letter in Chinese, Xin represents a primitive means of communication. Today, however, it has come to encompass many more dimensions. Under this theme, the Icograda World Design Congress Beijing 2009 will explore contemporary issues surrounding communication design through a series of presentations, discussions and pre-Congress workshops.

Curator：
Wang Min

Co-Curators：
Lee Ken Tsai, Fang Hongzhang, Pan Qin, Bi Xuefeng, Han Xu, Chen Zhengda, Benny Au Tak-Shing, Eric Chan Chiu-Wang, Zeng Hui, Lin Cunzhen, Jiang Hua

Assistant Curator：
Liang Xingyi (Veronica)

Academic Support：
School of Design, China Central Academy of Fine Arts

Contact：
For further inquires, please contact:
post@beijing2009.org

Time: 2009.10.24-11.4
Venue: Visual Art Center, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University