The Vitrine / 展示櫃

2022
sound installation
3 channels, light, broken vitrines, smoke machine, 30 min on loop
work commissioned by LIUSA WANG Gallery

The Chinese Museum at the Palace of Fontainebleau was established in 1867. Most of the collections were plundered by British and French forces during the Opium War. In view of this event, these collections can be interpreted through three distinct viewing experiences. The first is the moment right before the foreign invasion, when the Western “Perspective Linéaire” technique was introduced to the Qing imperial court, marking an important exchange between East and West in visual history. The second moment occurs during the post-invasion period, when Chinese artefacts were looted and brought to Europe. Some of these items were remodelled by members of the French court, incorporating Western artistic styles. This “Pastiche” re-creation strips these objects of their original sculptural functions, enshrouding them with a distinctive hegemonic meaning.

The third moment is marked by a theft that occurred in the early morning of 1 March 2015, when items were stolen from the Chinese Museum at Fontainebleau. This incident reflects the contemporary context surrounding these cultural objects. The display of colonial loot is undergoing significant change in the current political and economic climate, highlighting the fundamental ideological problems of Western museums displaying collections linked to colonialism. It also implies the involvement of powerful political forces and an underground trading network. Using storytelling as a medium, the sound installation The Vitrine transforms the exhibition site into the crime scene of a stolen museum, providing audiences with a starting point to reconsider the problematic Asian collections in Western institutions. It also responds to the critique by Ariella Azoulay and Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, who conceptualise “museums as crime scenes.”

Installation view at LIUSA WANG Gallery in Paris, Frence, 2022

© 2024 Musquiqui Lab

The Vitrine / 展 示 櫃

© 2024
Musquiqui Lab

The Vitrine / 展示櫃