January 27, Reception 7–9 p.m.
January 28, concert by Rebecca Williams, 7–9 p.m.
January 29 and 30th, 3–6 p.m.
January 31, Monday 6–8 p.m.
February 1, Tuesday 6–8 p.m.
The residents of Beijing’s “urban villages” are being relocated to make space for the rapid expansion of China’s capital city. Seen as a roadblock to a worldview of Beijing as a “modern” city, China is demolishing the 1000+ urban villages in Beijing to build modern architectural developments and high-rise apartments. Relocation is inevitable for the villagers as bulldozing equipment invades and begins destruction with little time. The gallery aims to share the research and documentation of Beijing’s quickly changing urban condition, while offering insight into China’s expansion.
A second part of the gallery provides enlightenment onto the daily lives of the “rural villagers” outside of Beijing. Due to Beijing’s demolition and the ever increasing population of China’s urban areas, China is encouraging the growth of rural villages and what it calls “the new socialist countryside.” The gallery will depict a pivotal time in China’s rural villages in which tradition and modernization will merge together to bring China’s rural villages into the modern era.
“To investigate a problem is to solve it” ― Chairman Mao Tse-tung 05.1930
Artist Bio: Mat Strack, Montana Crady, and Stephanie Adamczyk are second year graduate students in the U of I’s School of Architecture. They participated in a two-month research program called BASE (Beijing Architectural Studio Enterprise) in the summer of 2010, which allowed them to research Beijing’s changing urban conditions first-hand.