Inauguration of a collaborative light-space-installation by the artists Andreas Schmid and Zheng Chongbin in the foyer of the Museum of East Asian Art, June 12, 2025, 6–8 p.m. 

On Thursday, June 12, 2025, 6 p.m., the inauguration of a collaborative light-space installation by the artists Andreas Schmid (b. 1955) and Zheng Chongbin (b. 1961) will take place in the foyer of the Museum of East Asian Art (MOK). Following welcome addresses by the Vice Mayor of the City of Cologne, Andreas Wolter, and the Deputy Mayor of Fine Arts and Culture of the City of Cologne, Stefan Charles, an introduction will be given by the Scientific Museum Director, Dr. Shao-Lan Hertel, as well as speeches by the two artists Andreas Schmid and Zheng Chongbin. Attendees are invited to a reception in the foyer starting from 7 p.m.

INVITATION

Registration is not required. The number of attendees is limited, timely arrival is thus recommended. Please note that photography, audio, and video recordings will be made during the event.

Funded by Sparkasse KölnBonn

About the Artists

Andreas Schmid (born 1955 in Stuttgart) belongs to a particular artist generation among the German-speaking region who intensively experienced the formative years of the People's Republic of China's Opening and Reform Policies post-1976. He was among the first exchange students to receive the opportunity to study in China through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the early 1980s. In this context, Schmid studied the art of Chinese calligraphy at the National Academy of Art in Hangzhou under the now internationally renowned calligrapher Wang Dongling. This learning experience had a lasting impact on Schmid's work as a light-and-space artist. Today, his minimalist, often large-scale light sculptures installed in public spaces continue to be defined by elemental calligraphic principles: linearity, temporality, rhythm, and constant transformation of form. In 1993, Schmid co-curated the groundbreaking exhibition "China Avant-Garde" at the House of World Cultures (HKW) in Berlin, one of the first exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art in Europe to date. His works are represented internationally at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart; MUMOK, Vienna; Daimler Art Collection, Berlin; Kunstsammlung Chemnitz; Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing; and Raketenstation Hombroich, among others.

Zheng Chongbin (born 1961 in Shanghai), now based and working between the US and Mainland China, is a multi-faceted, internationally renowned artist who initially became known for his work as an ink artist. His abstract painterly ink works are grounded in technical, aesthetic, and conceptual frameworks of classical Chinese calligraphy. Similar to Schmid's “drawings in space” (Raumzeichnungen), they manifest an intensive engagement with art traditions and the negotiation of transcultural dialogues in contemporary art. While Zheng remains rooted in the brush-and-ink medium, his creative spectrum has expanded to large-scale, site-specific artworks inspired by the Californian Light and Space Movement as well as New Materialism. His works are exhibited and collected worldwide, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong; M+, Hong Kong; and Ryosoku-in Temple, Kyoto.