Announcing the New Co-Director of Arthub Asia: Charles Esche

On the occasion of the launch of The Making of Meeting, a publication that addresses the first seven years of Arthub Asia’s activities, Davide Quadrio, Defne Ayas and Qiu Zhijie are happy to announce the appointment of Charles Esche as the fourth Director of the organization.

A curator and writer, since 2004 Esche has been the Director of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Netherlands and he has been recently appointed as Curator of the upcoming Sao Paulo Biennale.

Charles Esche has already carried out successful collaborations with Arthub Asia such as “Double Infinity” in 2010, a collaborative encounter between Van Abbemuseum and Arthub Asia that took place at the Dutch Culture Centre in Shanghai. “Double Infinity” was comprised of an exhibition, a performance series, a lecture program and a publication; the event marked the first time that a museum opened itself and its permanent collection up to the dynamic responses and contributions of artists based in China.

This project is now developing further with the preparation of a second part, titled, “Qiuzhuang Project—a dispersed museum project” by Suzhou-based artist Li Mu. In this project, Li Mu reproduces important artworks belonging to the Van Abbemuseum collection and displays the replicated works in public spaces of his rural hometown, Qiuzhuang in Hunan province. The project is focused on fostering the engagement of the villagers with contemporary art, not just through temporary interventions but also with long lasting actions.

In 2012, together with Arthub Directors Davide Quadrio and Defne Ayas, Esche also curated the Bandung Pavilion for the 9th Shanghai Biennale, an integral part of the City Pavilions Project.

We warmly welcome Charles to our team, and we are sure his involvement will bring new, exciting and intriguing collaborations and projects.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Qiuzhuang Project—a dispersed museum project, please find here. An ongoing project by artist Li Mu, the Van Abbemuseum and Arthub Asia since February, 2013.

For more information and photographs, please visit here.

Ilse Cornelis, Communication and Press

Phone: +31 (0) 40 238 1019 / Mobile: + 31 (0) 6 12995794

Mail: i.cornelis@vanabbemuseum.nl