CAFxSHMOG | Land Art Exhibition in Jiangyong Nushu Village

The 2023 Jiangyong Nushu International Music Tourism Week event held in the beautiful millennium-old village of Goulan Yao Village, Jiangyong County, Hunan Province on September 28, 2023, was initiated and served as the artistic director by Mr. Tan Dun, a UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador, world-renowned composer, and conductor. The event was co-hosted by the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the People's Government of Yongzhou City, the Yongzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Radio, Television, and Sports, in conjunction with the Jiangyong County Committee of the Communist Party of China and the People's Government of Jiangyong County.

The "Farmers' Installation Land Art Exhibition" project was jointly participated in by the Chance Art Foundation and the Shanghai Museum of Glass during the 2023 Jiangyong Nushu International Music Tourism Week. Contemporary artist Mr. Liao Fei was invited as the art consultant, collaborating closely with Tan Dun's studio. They utilized old glassware collected from all Shanghai citizens and created a large-scale outdoor art installation called the "Sound Wind Chime Path" on the land in Goulan Yao Village, Jiangyong County. This installation, composed of discarded glass items, presented the sound of wind through glass material, immersing the audience in an imaginative sonic experience. Additionally, the glass art piece "Mang" created by artist Wang Qin, originally an exhibit at the main venue of the Shanghai Museum of Glass, was reset in the Nushu Music Museum due to this collaboration.

The bamboo-made melon sheds and wooden corridors, commonly seen everywhere, represent the local materials of Goulan Yao Village. As part of the arts festival, the Chance Art Foundation's artistic team was specially invited to construct a transparent sound corridor named the "Sound Wind Chime Path" using bamboo as the primary material along the village road. The corridor is adorned with wind chimes crafted from old glass cups originating from different countries, regions, and eras. People can relax, converse, and wander underneath the corridor. As vines climb and fruits ripen, they gradually become enveloped in greenery. Whether passersby or those picking vegetables, they can appreciate these transparent sounds nestled within the valley.

The "Sound Wind Chime Path" establishes a natural and harmonious connection between the artwork and its surrounding environment. Going beyond the traditional confines of glass and sound, the ingenious use of handcrafted, naturally woven elements seamlessly blends them together, showcasing the beauty of harmonious art within nature. It delineates an enchanting visual and auditory landscape.

"Mang" refers to the awns on the grain husks or the sharpness and brilliance emitted by the artwork. A large number of orderly arranged glass wheat ears utilize the refraction and reflection of one-way mirrors to create an infinitely extending space, leaving the audience unable to discern the boundary between reality and illusion. Each wheat ear vividly displays its own texture, harmonizing and linking with each other, forming a field of inorganic matter emitting radiance—a separate world devoid of any connection to objective nature.