BERLIN.- Times Art Center Berlin, a new experimental space for contemporary art from China, opened to the public on November 30, 2018. In recent years, art created in China, by artists both from China and abroad, has become a major part of the global art scene. Now, the time has come to reflect this progression in Berlin. As an associated organisation of the renowned Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou in southern China, TACB has been established with that mission in mind. Times Art Center Berlin will introduce a part of the Chinese art world which is critically important but remains lesser known in the West and underrepresented in the global art market, namely, the experimental art scene from the Pearl River Delta. The three-part inaugural exhibition, The D-Tale, Video Art from the Pearl River Delta is curated by HOU Hanru and TACB’s Artistic Director, XI Bei.

As a non-profit art institution, Times Art Center Berlin aims at facilitating cultural conversations between Asia and Europe through collaborations with artists, curators, intellectuals and institutions based in Berlin. TACB operates as an independent and self-governed organisation and will realise a series of exhibitions, research projects, commissions, screenings, discursive events, artist residencies and publications. As an experimental space and research-oriented platform, it hopes to add a voice from the Global Souths to Berlin’s vibrant artistic scenes.

Times Art Center Berlin will explore new models of cultural migrations in Europe and the world from the perspective of an Asian contemporary art institution. In its long-term programming, it will focus on three main areas: Firstly, it aims at constructing critical and intellectual frameworks for presenting Chinese contemporary art in Europe and supporting research residencies for Chinese artists. Further, it will collaborate with local art institutions and cultural producers in the form of exhibitions, discursive events and research. Thirdly, it will work to facilitate transnational exchange and bridge an intellectual and artistic conversation between Asia and Europe. Critical international coalitions in the Times Art Center Berlin will further inform and transform the research and production back to Guangzhou.

Times Art Center Berlin is initiated by the Guangdong Times Museum. This is the first time an independent Asia-based art museum has founded a parallel institution abroad.