Minguo Landscape（2017）Single channel animation，14’ 33”，Courtesy of the artist

Born in Sichuan, China, Qiu Anxiong is a video, animation and installation artist currently based in Shanghai. Qiu’s practice adopts a point of view that is distinctly native to China— instead of looking continually to the West as a reference point, he turns to classical Chinese texts, such as Buddhism, Confucianism, poetry and supernatural tales. He also amalgamates evocative historical imagery with traditional ink painting motifs through modern digital animation techniques, with the intent of preserving cultural heritage.

Minguo Landscape is one such example and alludes to the establishment of the Republic of China following the close of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. In this black and white animation, various scenes reveal life in a world filled with conflict, romance, intentions and pursuits. Qiu sees parallels between the unstable but rich period of flourishing hybridity, traditionalism and modernism in Chinese arts, and the current cultural climate in China. His pictorial vision of a ‘Minguo’ juxtaposes the ancient and modern, illustrating a poetic vision that is both admirable and overly idealistic.