The first edition of the new triennial Okayama Art Summit will launch this October under the artistic directorship of Liam Gillick. It will feature 31 contemporary artists, including Rachel Rose, Ryan Gander, Lawrence Weiner, and Joan Jonas, under the title “Development.”
“I chose the title ‘Development’ and used that as a starting point for this exhibition,” Gillick said in a statement. “The word here should be understood in various ways. Okayama is an exemplary city. Its historical relationship to development in an urbanistic sense is very particular. Moving between the various sites of the Art Summit the visitor will encounter the layering of change, renovation, and rebuilding that is at the heart of the contemporary Japanese city.”
All artists in the triennial were selected due to their approach to structures in terms of the ideological, the formal, and the political.
The title relates to the processes of pre and post-production in cinema, developed capitalism, and strategic planning. It also refers to “ideas in development,” as in the different ways the participating artists deal with this in their work.
Former Fukuoka Soy Sauce Factory, one of the Okayama Art Summit venues. Courtesy of Okayama Art Summit.
“Ideas in development always retain potential but development strategies are not value-free,” Gillick said. “Many of the artists here deploy modes of withdrawal and resistance in the face of the dominance of ‘ideas in development.’ They work around pre-production and post-production games, creating works that are in permanent development or constantly reflect back on the conditions of their production and reception.”
Viewers will be able to choose between two routes through the exhibition on which they will be guided by people local to the area. Those taking the first route will take the role of an individual “camera” and those taking the second route will act as groups of “collective subjects,” as termed by Gillick.
Other participating artists will be Peter Saville, Simon Fujiwara, Ahmet Ögut, Hannah Weinberger, Michael Craig-Martin, and Peter Fischli.
The Okayama Art Summit will take place in Okayama, Japan, from October 9-November 27, 2016.