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From Beijing to Paris to San Francisco: Hou Hanru in conversation: currently Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs and Chair of the Exhibitions and Museum Studies program at the San Francisco Art Institute, the career of Chinese curator Hou Hanru has kept pace with the emergence of a globalized art world.

Article Excerpt
Recently, I had an opportunity to speak with Hou Hanru, a prolific curator and writer who has been inventing and reinventing himself and his profession for two decades. In 2006 he was appointed Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs and Chair of Exhibition Studies and Museum Studies program at the San Francisco Art Institute, and in 2007 he served as the curator of the Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and curator of the 10th Istanbul Biennale. Our conversation revolved around a consideration of new conditions engulfing art and exhibition practices in the 90s, when Biennales came to be increasingly organized by a new professional class. Hou's curatorial practice has developed through keen instincts within the context of dramatic changes in a world fuelled by economical globalization and post-colonial migration. As a consequence, he offers ways to make sense of contemporary art in a globalizing world.

JOHAN LUNDH Since this issue of C magazine is devoted to diasporas, I want to start off by asking you why you decided to move from Beijing, China, to Paris, France, in 1990?

HOU HANRU I have always wanted to go beyond my own cultural context but it was a coincidence that I ended up in Paris. I was working on a project in the south of France at the time. During the trip, I met my girlfriend, who later became my wife, so I decided to stay. I belong to a generation in China that really grew up with the transition from the Cultural Revolution to the opening of the 1980s, culminating in the end of the Cold War. I think my generation shared a desire to go beyond the experiences of our forefathers. We valued and faced new kinds of social and political questions. Ultimately, we also wanted to see what we could achieve in the world. On one hand, moving from Beijing to Paris was a significant change for me. On the other, I...

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