Artist Houshiary explores origins, life in China debut

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Iranian-British artist Shirazeh Houshiary interacts with the audience during the opening ceremony of her first major exhibition in China at Long Museum West Bank in Shanghai on Saturday. [Photo by Lin Shujuan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai is hosting Shirazeh Houshiary's first major exhibition in China, set to run through May 7.

The exhibition, titled Rhizome, features the Iranian-Bristish artist's new large-scale paintings, composite sculptures and an immersive sound and film installation, a reflection of the artists' exploration of philosophy, cosmology, geography, physics and faith.

Rhizome signifies an expanding, never-ending network of roots and possible paths, Houshiary said during a media briefing at the museum on Saturday.

"The rhizome is a map. It's a map of life. This mapping is actually what nature does in following various paths and evaluating their potential. So if you can reveal this process of networking and re-evaluation at the center of one's own psychology, then you can begin to unveil your own thoughts and all its folds."

As life starts with a breath, the exhibition starts with sound and film installation called Breath. It features a four-channel video depicting hand-drawn animations that represent the inhalations and exhalations of vocalists chanting multi-denominational prayers. First shown in this configuration during the 2013 Venice Biennale, Breath is within a black box draped in felt, its walls representing the four points of the compass and the meeting point of world cultures.

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