As humanity advances towards modernity, toxin-generating algae from ancient times impel us to merge with artificial intelligence or bestow affection upon the intellects we have created.

The history of colonization and the history of nature are closely intertwined, and tigers and deer record the continuous transformation between architecture, landforms, and culture.

This book club will gather about 20 viewers to introduce and share three articles about the wonderful relationship between plants and humans, exploring their multiple levels and possibilities in global regions and different cosmologies.

Through the eyes of nature-watching enthusiasts, we can see that the city of Beijing may be more deeply entwined with the non-human other than we thought.

In conjunction with the exhibition Multispecies Clouds at Mecalline Art Center, the special public program Meshwork is honored to invite Bo Yang, PhD candidate in anthropology from the Human Ecology Research Group at University College London, to present a theoretical discussion on ontology, multispecies ethnography and botanical study in anthropology in the context of his fieldwork on Cordyceps Sinensis in Kham area of Tibet.

As the first session of the special public program “Meshwork” accompanying the exhibition “Multispecies Clouds“ at Macalline Art Center, we are honored to have Dr. Wang Xiyan, anthropologist, tell us a legend about Burmese pythons in the Kinmen region, and explore the field practice of the "multi-species ethnography" method.

The word "zang (脏)" in Mandarin means dirty, but its pronunciation is exactly the same as the word that means "true (真)" in Wenzhou dialect.

The highly controversial Documenta 15 has come to its closure, however, the debate around it is still very much heated. We have seen severe disagreement and imbalance at this specific site that represents the global contemporary art scene. How are they relevant to us? We could still ask, how are we (artists, institutions, curators, collectors…) related to the discourses around “locality”, “global south”, “context”, and “Lumbung” – the concept proposed by Ruangrupa in Documenta 15. How do we comprehend these disputes and arguments? How do we rethink of “locality”? In this seminar, we would like to reflect on these questions as well as to solidify our positions.

The field of contemporary art has been flooded with terminology related to "locality," around which emerged numerous exhibitions and discussion. People are even under the illusion that by tilting artistic direction towards local contexts, it is possible to break free from homogeneity and develop different approaches, explore new contexts, and change trends… This is, of course, an illusion. In my limited personal experience, I have found that professionals in the field of contemporary art are probably the least "patient" group of people. No matter how complex the context is, you’d better explain yourself in two minutes. The more "professional" people are, the less time they have for others, and they would jump to conclusions within a few sentences. It's not a matter of individual differences, it's a common denominator. I want to discuss issues related to the topic of "locality" in a divergent way by sharing these three stories, which are not strictly interconnected. For instance, can we extract a new way of perceiving time and space from "locality"? Can "locality" only be included as a specificity in a more general context? …

In the final session of "Subjective Narratology", Li Binyuan will recollect the legacy of his work and talk about the scars left on himself during his creation, and draw a picture of Xiaoxiang that is constantly polished, chiseled and reshaped by the artist's body - without geographical displacement and alienation, this hidden personal landscape is deeply connected to the land and the life it provides.

In the third issue of the series “Subjective Narratology“, Xing Danwen will use her personal understanding of ”pain“ as a creative clue to explore the periodicity of ”pain“ – it is perpetuated in the life course of an individual, as well as in social changes. Through the growth and artistic exploration of this female artist and a generation, we will meet bizarre living forms that live in a broken scene caused by overexploitation, and your pain is mine too.

As the second event of the series “Subjective Narratology", artist He An will review his travels to Shanxi, Italy and other places in the past fifteen years, and examine the formation of the places’ unconscious, and reflect on the loss of genius loci.

“Journey to the Organs” is a guided meditation series that opens up our consciousness to the internal organs. Based on the body, we will think about the relationship between human beings and reality, nature, and the universe. In this meditation, Fang Lu and the audience will enter the location of the soul (Po Hu) - the lungs.

Shen Xin’s new text “1, 2, 3, 4” further explores the relationship between language and text, simultaneously describing faults in geographic structures and individual histories.Based on Shen Xin’s text, Macalline Art Center will host a performance reading.

For countries outside of Europe and North America, is the idea of environmental protection imported or does it have indigenous origins? Two views have emerged among historians.

At 6:00 p.m. on January 22, the Cloister Project will present “Polyphonic”, a public event with performance, at the Cloisters Apartments. Shown as part of Liao Fei’s solo show “Depiction,” Polyphonic will be led by artist Xu Lishuang, who will explore the multiple relationships between a person and a table through the act of climbing.

Macalline Art Center is proud to announce that its physical space in Beijing’s 798 Art District will formally open to the public on January 15, 2022. 

Bare Screen and The Cloister Project in collaboration with Special Special, presents "Plant Meditation Hour", as a public program of the current exhibition "Meditation Chamber with Furniture in Motion".

Zhang Wenxin’s video project Two Passages into the Caves contains two works, HOGEN and illusion, which are both comprised of text and video. Both pieces will be presented in an offline screening and discussion at fRUITYSPACE (No. 13 Meishuguan Dongjie, Dongcheng District, Beijing) at 9:30 p.m., on Thursday, July 22.

The stories, creatures, and environments in “Shanhaijing” (Book of Mountains and Seas) gesture toward a cosmology that is correlational. Cross-pollinated species, transmutable beings, androgynous beasts and humans thrive in the infinite space between heaven and earth, where matter and phenomena are in a constant flow of exchange. This kind of imaginative correlation dilutes the contemporary desire for categorization, destabilizes hierarchical orderings. With roots in Taoist philosophy, Shanhaijing centers the body as an expression of the shape and logic of the cosmos, a way of living and knowing through embodiment. This radical epistemology enables us to think on a terrestrial scale, to form a deep and intimate solidarity with ourselves and our surroundings.

We invite you to participate in a meditative process, moving from obscurity, confusion, and dissociation to integrity, transcending the boundaries between creatures. When meditating, things in the universe gradually expand and develop in the body, making us one with all things in the universe.

We have invited artist Liu Qinmin, curator and art historian Wang Xin, and musician Siyu to an online public event for “Bare Screen,” Macalline Art Center’s digital video commissions program, where they will discuss how the music video, a global visual phenomenon, promoted and contributed to the visualization of a collective soul, a sense of identity and belonging, and the charms of social media.

17 December 2020, Beijing – Macalline Art Center, Beijing’s newest non-profit art institution, digitally launches today with a series of digital initiatives, including “Bare Screen“, a program of newly-commissioned digital artworks.