Conjugation of Art and Archives:An Overview of Archive of the Annual of Contemporary Art of China (2023)

The “archival turn” in contemporary art refers to the growing in corporation of archives into the sphere of problematic awareness and creative objects, either deliberately or unconsciously, beginning in the 1990s, when Western critical theories alluded to the subject of archives. In 2023, a series of exhibitions and events reflecting on and discussing archival issues emerged in the Chinese contemporary art scene and academic community, providing us with an opportunity to think, summarize, and reconsider. In the conjugate relationship between art and archives, this issue of archives has extended the trajectory of Western postmodern theories while continuing the Western postmodern theoretical path. The journey of archival art in Asia, the curator􀆳s archival consciousness, the discovery of the natural archive, the mechanism and authenticity of the art archive, the crisis and opportunity in the age of digitization and technological revolution, and work as a “meta-archive” are just a few of the topics that have emerged from the interaction between art and archive. Although the archival turn in contemporary art has recently relied on the development of larger socio-cultural theories, archival art, along with archival practice, has contributed to a better understanding of archival issues, and artistic production and theoretical discussion have woven together the possibilities of archives and Chinese Contemporary Art.