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Yue Minjun - Det arkæologiske fund år 3009
About the exhibition
A journey to the year 3009! With the exhibition YUE MINJUN - The archaeological find, year 3009, ARoS invited visitors to the museum on a wondrous journey almost a thousand years into the future.
Chinese contemporary artist Yue Minjun transformed ARoS' West Gallery into a time capsule from 2009 - found and interpreted by our descendants 1000 years in the future.
However, the exhibition showed that there were some facts that the people of the year 3009 had misunderstood. For example, as we all know, the Tyrannosaurus Rex is far from contemporary with the AUDI, although Yue Minjun's colourful painting 3009 - AD3009 presents it as such. According to Yue Minjun, it is not always the case that posterity learns more about the lives of its ancestors. And is there really a correct and objective way to write social history?
Mixed with a good dose of humour and caricature, Yue Minjun's artistic and archaeological total staging encouraged ARoS visitors to take a critical look at themselves and the way modern man lives. Who are we? How do we live? And what interests guide us in our everyday lives?
The human identity
Yue Minjun is one of Asia's leading contemporary artists. Raised during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, he is interested in topics such as human identity, freedom of expression and cultural origins. The artist works in a wide range of sculpture, installation art and painting, but is best known for his distinctive depictions of hysterically laughing and pink people, all portraits of Yue Minjun himself.
As one of the leading artists in the Cynical Realism style, Yue Minjun's works contain a strong political appeal. After the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, silent laughter became Yue Minjun's significant trademark. The manic silent laughter reveals a resounding void behind the row of pearly teeth - an ironic and distanced commentary on the Chinese people's desire for freedom of expression and popular participation.
Yue Minjun - The Archaeological Find, year 3009 was the artist's first solo exhibition in the North. Of the many sculptures, objects and paintings that appeared in the exhibition, some were newly produced for the exhibition at ARoS.