(Finland,
87 min.)
Dir. Mika
Mattila
Programme: Next
(World Premiere)
Last year’s Hot Docs film festival opened with an acclaimed
doc about an acclaimed Chinese artist. That artist, of course, is Ai Weiwei,
and the doc Never Sorry certainly did
an excellent job of revealing how the artist’s work enjoys a countercultural
struggle with China’s oppressive government. Can we in the West name a Chinese
artist other than Ai Weiwei, though? I certainly can’t, unless one allows for
the inclusion of filmmakers.
Mika Mattila’s Chimeras,
which has its world premiere at Hot Docs in the Next programme, looks at China’s
contemporary cultural revolution. Following two artists of different
generations, Chimeras shows a nation
in flux. Neither artist—Wang Guangyi, a painter (the elder) or Liu Gong, a
photographer (the younger)—embodies the “old China”, as both artists emerged in a
post-Maoist nation. (Liu Gong wasn’t even born until a decade after Mao’s
death.) Both artists, however, gained popularity as Chinese art and culture
enjoyed its strongest currents of internationalization, with Chinese art
travelling overseas and trends from the West influencing the large Asian
nation.
The different forms and philosophies behind the two artists’
works, though, convey a nation at a crossroads. Wang Guangyi, whose sales one
year topped $25 million, struggles to find a way to reconcile contemporary art
with Chinese tradition. “What are we looking for? Where are our roots?” he
ponders as he looks to the land and sees little of his heritage in the work of
his peers. Wang participated in a pioneer group of contemporary artists called
the Northern Art Group, which sought to change the status quo of oppressive
Chinese politics through art. Wang’s art becomes an ineffable encapsulation of
a country in the throes of globalization, adapting to it and resisting it at
the same time.
The West, on the other hand, has a strong influence on Liu
Gong’s work. Liu cites his generation as being that of the global China, one
for which dreams and fantasies echo those of Western ideology. Even his second
public exhibition, a series of photographs entitled “A Better Life”, looks to
the West for inspiration.
Chimeras is an
intriguing look at how art shapes and is shaped by discourses in migration and
globalization. The film itself is of a unique character, as it’s made by
Finnish director Mika Mattila, who has called Beijing his hometown for years
and decided to make the film after immersing himself in the rich currents of
contemporary Chinese art. Chimeras
shows the multifaceted nature of how art engages in questions of nationhood and
belonging, regardless of whether a piece is conceived as political or not. Mattila’s
smart look at contemporary Chinese art positions the art scene as an important
harbinger for greater cultural change. As the isolated ancient culture sees
greater and greater influence from the West, but learns to adapt and reflect
upon its cultural legacy, the products shaped by China’s artists seem to signal
a changing of the guards in cultural power.
Art lovers will want to see this film, not only for the
striking visuals, but also for Mattila’s impressive snapshot of the larger
philosophies and impulses that sculpt works of art. Chimeras should appeal to many filmgoers who found the conundrum of
cultural categories so fascinating in Abbas Kiarostami’s French-Japanese co-pro
Like Someone in Love. As currents
change and creativity circulates more freely between national borders, art
becomes somewhat borderless. Chimeras
therefore reveals that questions of national character seem to be more relevant
than ever, as the old ways are re-evaluated, re-shaped, and, in some cases,
discarded altogether. If art reflects the world we live in, then Chimeras suggests that things are
becoming much different Chinese art enters a new stage of enlightenment.
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Chimeras screens:
Friday, April 26 – 9:00 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox
Sunday, April 28 – 1:30 pm at Cineplex Scotiabank
Thursday, May 2 – 4:30 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox
Please visit www.hotdocs.ca for more info on films,
tickets, and show times.
