Chinese artist Shen Qibin at the Luigi Bellini Museum

Chinese artist Shen Qibin at the Luigi Bellini Museum

Celebrating the opening of the Florence branch of the Foundation for European Art Collecting

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Fri 16 Feb 2018 8:45 AM

 

Just in time for the Chinese New Year on February 16, the Luigi Bellini Museum has inaugurated an exhibition dedicated to one of China’s top contemporary artists, Shen Qibin. The show is staged in celebration of the opening of the Florence branch of the Foundation for European Art Collecting, established in China in September 2017.

 

The Shen Qibin exhibition, titled + & –, is curated by another major artist in China’s contemporary scene, Xiao Xiong, and aims to build a bridge between the great Florentine tradition and China’s millennia-long culture through the works of Qibin. One particularly striking installation will be available for all to see on the evening of February 16: Ponte Santa Trinita, close to the museum, will be lit up with red lights at exactly 6:58pm, in a piece called “Hong Qiao,” literally Red Bridge. The meaning of the installation is anything but casual. More than just a reference to the objective of “building a bridge” between the two cultures, it was the Bellini family who saw to Ponte Santa Trinita’s reconstruction after it was destroyed by retreating German forces on August 4, 1944.

 

The Foundation of European Art Collecting was born out of a collaboration between the Luigi Bellini Museum and the Himalayas Museum in Shanghai, which opened its doors last September with an exhibition dedicated to the Bellini family that showcased over 400 paintings, sculptures, tapestries and more. It was established in an effort to foster greater awareness of European culture in China, especially within the Chinese art market. With an investment of 300 million euro, the Foundation will spend the next five years acquiring works of art, after which it will turn its attention to managing and promoting this heritage in the global art market.

 

Though the Luigi Bellini Museum is a private institution, the exhibition is open to the public on the ground floor.

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