Artist Shezad Dawood on show in China

Shezad Dawood's Through Pierced Flesh and Skin of Dreams is an installation of five paintings on suspended textiles. [Photo/China Daily]

In his first solo show in China, British multimedia artist Shezad Dawood presents 'alien greetings' on textiles. 

In Shezad Dawood's sci-fi film Piercing Brightness, two aliens with Chinese facial features start their Earth adventure from Preston in northeastern England.

In his first solo show in China, the multimedia artist brings to the ancient city of Xi'an a special version of the film together with "alien greetings" drawn on textiles.

London-based Dawood, 40, held his show at OCT Contemporary Art Terminal Xi'an on Nov 1. The artist presented three of his large-scale textile works, including two textile paintings used as screens to project videos on, three films and a neon installation.

His Through Pierced Flesh and Skin of Dreams is an installation of five paintings on suspended textiles.

His textile works echo with the history of Xi'an, in China's northwestern Shaanxi province, through which the famous Silk Road once carried silk fabrics to much of Asia and Europe, according to Karen Smith, director of the Xi'an art facility, where the exhibition is being held.

Dawood's experimental films also connect with the city that has a strong filmmaking tradition, she adds. Renowned Chinese film directors Zhang Yimou and Gu Changwei were both born in Xi'an and spent their early years in the city of landmark cultural draws such as the Terracotta Warriors.

Although different from Zhang and Gu, Dawood's film and video works look to explore any connection between the past, present and future. Piercing Brightness, for instance, is set in Preston, where the biggest number of UFOs in the United Kingdom are said to have been sighted, according to popular tales and unverified media reports.

The city also has a growing population of immigrants from China.

Dawood's story focuses on two Chinese-looking aliens who arrive in Preston, a city full of aliens, but where many residents have forgotten their alien identities.

"I use the sci-fi film to talk about the phenomenon of immigration. That's often the case in my works, using fantasy as a vehicle to talk about what's really happening," Dawood tells China Daily.

Born to a Pakistani mother and an Indian father and growing up in London, Dawood has always been interested in different cultures. In all the past years, he has tried to connect Western and Eastern cultures through his works, he says.

Before his weekend show in Xi'an, Dawood had never visited the city, but his curiosity about Xi'an, especially about China's first female empress Wu Zetian, who ruled the country during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), has only grown since.

Similar to his earlier film works on places such as Morocco, Hawaii and Mexico, the artist plans to make a film on Xi'an in the future, he says. "It's a fascinating city, bridging the past and present. On one hand, it has the Terracotta Warriors, and on the other, it leads the IT industry (in China)," he adds.

Dawood's solo show is the anniversary show of the OCAT exhibition hall in Xi'an. It opened last year, with a show of calligraphy and ink featuring Chinese artists like Xu Bing and Wang Dongling. This year, it held a group show of oil paintings by younger Chinese artists.

Contemporary artist Dawood's show seems to have set the tone for the facility's future shows. In fact, it is OCAT's mission to promote contemporary art in Xi'an, where much of the art scene so far has centered around culture relics, with traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy as the dominant forces.

"Xi'an has lots of great traditional museums. But it's short of space to show contemporary art, we just offer a place for it," says Smith. She is one of few foreign nonprofit curators in China.

Once the capital city of the Han Dynasty (206-220 BC) and the Tang Dynasty, Xi'an has gained worldwide reputation for its antiques markets and the housing of heritage.

Smith says that Dawood's show is like a transitional exhibition to pave the way for more avant-garde art in Xi'an. The British artist has presented traditional textile materials in contemporary ways, and his sci-fi film talks to the Chinese. "People need time to accept avant-garde art. There must be someone to offer them," adds Smith.

Dawood's show will run through Feb 26.