Public Tour & Talk: There Is No ‘I’ in Team
There Is No ‘I’ in Team is an international exhibition project bringing together contemporary Chinese artists working across video, animation, installation, experimental sound and digital media. First presented in Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead in 2008, the exhibition forms part of CHINA NOW and EAST’08, two major cultural festivals celebrating Chinese art and culture in the United Kingdom. While CHINA NOW presents a nationwide programme highlighting China’s cultural heritage and contemporary creativity, EAST’08 celebrates contemporary Asian culture across Newcastle and Gateshead, providing an important platform for international artistic exchange.
The exhibition reflects a pivotal moment in China’s development. Following economic reforms initiated in 1978, the country experienced unprecedented industrialisation, urbanisation and integration into global markets. By the early twenty-first century, these processes were reshaping everyday life, challenging established social structures and generating new tensions between collective values and individual aspirations. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games further reinforced narratives of national progress, modernisation and China’s growing global influence.
Against this backdrop, There Is No ‘I’ in Team explores the contradictions of a society negotiating its socialist political legacy alongside the expansion of market capitalism, consumer culture and technological development. Its title invokes the rhetoric of collective responsibility while questioning the relationship between individual agency and the broader ideological and economic systems shaping contemporary experience. Through experimental moving images, animation and large-scale installations, participating artists examine themes of urban transformation, cultural memory, political authority and social change. Works such as Jiang Zhi’s Onward! Onward! Onward!( employ repetition and irony to question the ideology of continuous progress and the collective pursuit of modernisation.
Rather than presenting a singular perspective on contemporary China, the exhibition foregrounds diverse artistic responses to rapid transformation. It invites audiences to reconsider the meaning of progress, the construction of collective identity and the position of the individual within a society undergoing profound cultural, economic and political change.
Chen Xiongwei
Artist included in the exhibition programme. Further biographical information requires verification.
Cheng Ran (b. 1981)
Chinese video artist and filmmaker exploring memory, identity, popular culture and contemporary life.
Dead J
Experimental electronic musician and sound artist associated with China’s independent music scene.
Gao Shiqiang (b. 1971)
Chinese video artist and filmmaker exploring history, cultural memory and social transformation.
Gao Yu
Chinese artist working with moving images and animation, examining contemporary experiences and visual culture.
Hung Keung (b. 1970) and imhk lab
Hong Kong new-media artist and experimental laboratory exploring Chinese language, philosophy and digital technology.
Jiang Zhi (b. 1971)
Chinese multidisciplinary artist exploring individual identity, political structures and the contradictions of modernisation.
Jin Shan
Chinese contemporary artist known for installations and sculptural works examining power, society and everyday experience.
Joyn:Viscom
Experimental visual-media contributor associated with the exhibition’s moving-image programme.
Meiya Lin
Chinese digital-media artist exploring collectivism, individual aspiration and contemporary social change.
Meng Jin
Chinese photographer and video artist exploring identity, urban experience and contemporary culture.
Peng Lei (b. 1976)
Chinese artist, filmmaker and musician known for his involvement in the indie rock band New Pants.
Qiu Anxiong (b. 1972)
Chinese artist combining traditional ink painting and animation to explore history, mythology and modernisation.
Sheng Jie
Chinese experimental-media artist whose video and installation work featured in the exhibition.
Song Tao (b. 1979)
Chinese artist and filmmaker exploring everyday life, urban change and collective memory.
Sun Xun (b. 1980)
Chinese artist and animator examining history, political narratives and the boundaries between reality and imagination.
Tsui Kuang Yu (b. 1974)
Taiwanese video and performance artist exploring human behaviour, social conventions and the absurdities of everyday life.
Wu Junyong (b. 1978)
Chinese artist working with animation, painting and drawing, combining mythology, humour and political satire.
Xu Huijing
Chinese moving-image artist whose work The Earth, The Human Being (2007) featured in the exhibition.
Zhang Ding (b. 1980)
Chinese installation and performance artist exploring spectacle, social interaction and collective experience.
HomeShop
Beijing-based artist-run initiative combining publishing, artistic collaboration and experimental approaches to everyday life.
Harndorf
Participant associated with the Berlin programme; further biographical details remain unverified.
Huang Rui (b. 1952)
Influential Chinese contemporary artist and co-founder of the Stars Group, known for his engagement with artistic freedom and political expression.
Year: 2008-2009
Public Tour & Talk conducted by co-curator Keith Whittle
Artists: Chen Xiaoyun, Chen Xiongwei, Cheng Ran, Dead J, Gao Shiqiang, Gao Yu, Hung Keung and imhk lab, Jiang Zhi, Jin Shan, Joyn:Viscom, Meiya Lin, Meng Jin, Peng Lei, Qiu Anxiong, Sheng Jie, Song Tao, Sun Xun, Tsui Kuang Yu, Wu Junyong, Xu Huijing, Zhang Ding, HomeShop, Harndorf, Huang Rui, and Berenice Angremy.
Exhibition: There Is No “I” in Team
Curated by: Keith Whittle, Keri Elmsly, Pauline Doutreluingne and Jian Jiang
Produced by: Keith Whittle, Keri Elmsly and ISIS Arts
Venues: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle and Gateshead; off-site venues
Subsequent venues: Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Program E.V., Berlin
Format: Installation
Programme: CHINA NOW; EAST’08
Partners: ISIS Arts; Newcastle City Council
Support: Culture10; British Council China
Country: United Kingdom