前言二

　　上世纪九十年代以前，中国宋庄仅仅是一个坐落于北京城外通州区的普通小镇。而如今，这里的居民与当代艺术家们比邻而居的情景随处可见，“宋庄”已经成为了中国乃至世界上规模最大的当代艺术群落的代名词。

　　中国最早的艺术群落形成于九十年代初，当时中国处在社会主义经济体制变革之中的，艺术家作为一个自由的职业，在脱离了体制后，为了寻求一种自由的生存和创作方式聚集到了圆明园附近的福缘门村。之后由于政治风波的影响，以及他们的另类聚集生存方式与体制内实行的户籍制度发生冲突而解散。其中的一些骨干艺术家们随后搬到了宋庄。

　　宋庄的出现不应被简单地认为是圆明园画家村迁徙之后的复制。从一九九四年至今的十几年里，在经历了中国社会经济体制的变革，以及文化意识形态的转变所带来的种种不适应之后，宋庄并没有消失在人们的视野里。相反，随着当代艺术在中国逐渐摆脱边缘化、艺术市场机制的逐步建立，使得宋庄艺术家的群聚不仅仅是存在于艺术史中的一种现象。从最初由于艺术家们对其居住方式、居住环境的个性化、实验性的要求使他们自发地聚集到此。到如今，个体逐渐被凝聚为一个整体，并且这样的群体力量正实实在在地作用于中国当代艺术的变革中。随着画廊、艺术机构的进驻以及美术馆的建立，艺术家群落从最初的乌托邦理想者走向实践者，宋庄模式的实验过程将推动中国艺术体制不断地完善。

　　当我们在关注这种群落模式的同时，也不要忽视宋庄艺术作品本身的价值。相对偏远的地域性能够减少消费社会的浮躁对于他们的影响，却并没有阻碍艺术家们的视野。相反，从他们不尽相同的创作手法和风格的作品中，我们可以解读出，艺术家们对于群落内外的各种变化始终保持着敏感，这样的敏感正是艺术家在当代语境中不断超越自我的特质。

　　此次，多伦现代美术馆非常荣幸能够承办宋庄当代艺术巡回展，呈现在大家面前的是群体中极具代表性的艺术家作品。美术馆作为一个公共展示平台，将把宋庄艺术全面地展现在公众的面前，让大家感受到这股当代艺术中的重要力量。

上海多伦现代美术馆艺术总监 陈九

Foreword

Before the 1990’s, Songzhuang was nowhere but a small town in Tongzhou District, Beijing suburb. Nowadays, with artists living next door, “Songzhuang” has become a substitute for the largest contemporary art community in China, even in the world.

The first art community in China came into being in the early ninety’s as the country was experiencing socialist economic system reform. Swarming in a village called Fu Yuan Men close to the Old Summer Palace artists had shaken off the shackles of social conventions and enjoyed greater freedom seeking for unique ways of living and artistic creation. After some time they dissolved due to the political shock and the conflict between their unconventional way of living in groups and the restriction of census registration system, and some of the core artists moved into Songzhuang later. 

However the emergence of Songzhuang art community shall by no means be perceived as a sheer copy of artist groups from the Old Summer Palace. In fact Songzhuang, since 1994, has withstood more than ten years of chaos brought by socio-economic system reform and ideological transformation. In the past years both the establishment of art market system and the enhancement of the status of art help people recognize the value of Songzhuang art community, not in art history alone. The initial desire for experimenting with new ways of living, which lured these artists to Songzhuang, has now been brewed into a united force accelerating transformation of China contemporary art. Along with the introduction of galleries, art organizations and museums into the zone these Songzhuang artists have turned themselves from utopian idealists into practical doers continuously making contribution to the development of China art system. 

While gazing at this interesting art community represented by Songzhuang, equal attention should be directed to the value of art works produced here. The remote location doesn’t block the artists’ vision but somehow shield them from the pollution of the restless consumer society. In fact through the variety of style and art pieces we can see the artists remain sensitive to changing temperament of the times, which exactly is the essence needed for constant self-transcendence.

It’s Duolun MoMa’s greatest pleasure to present the Traveling Exhibition of Songzhuang Contemporary Art and bring these representative works in front of our guests. Our aim is to provide a platform for the audience to feel the energy and vigor of Songzhuang contemporary art force.