Made in Mirrors

Made in Mirrors: Report artist project Rik Mijers

Just recently, the first Artist in Residence project took place in the context of the project Made in Mirrors. This May 10, the artist Rik Meijers took a plane in the direction of Guangzhou, China. For two weeks he participated in a full program that introduced him to Chinese culture and numerous Chinese artists, teachers, and curators. In Vitamin Creative Space (one of the partners of Made in Mirrors) he completed a mural entitled Today is a very fucked up day. In addition, he held a lecture in the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and he took part in the I-Market in Suzhou.

During the I-Market, a cultural market for youth, Meijers offered free posters and stickers of his work that people could colour right at the spot. “After a hesitant start, the posters and stickers received a lot of attention from both young and old”, says Rick. “The bands that performed played fairly conservative music and alcohol was nowhere to be found. For Chinese standards however, such a festival is already pretty remarkable”.

A personal high point for Rik was the lecture he did for students of the Guanghou Academy of Fine Arts. To talk about your work in an open and personal way is apparently not a very common thing to do in China. “My lecture, accompanied by a slide show, music of my band Chomain Vasser and own brought beer, were responsible for a long discussion, both inside as well as outside the lecture hall. Although the meagre level of English of the Chinese was sometimes a barrier, art turned out to be a universal means of communication”.

Rik also visited several final-examination expositions. “Especially the clear division in the Academy between the traditional (crafts) art on the one hand, and the modern (more Western oriented) art on the other hand, caught my attention”.

Presently, Rik is busy designing a calendar for 2008, which will be printed in China. He is also preparing a colouring book for children with images of his work. “This idea was inspired by the important and burdened position children take in Chinese society”.

On Sunday September 2, Rik Meijers will give a lecture in Het Domein about his work and his stay in China.