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| Education Research | Science Technology Research | New Media Art Design | New Media Art Works |
Tongji International Media Art Center
ORGANIZATION
TIMAC, focusing on the research, development and application of media art, is funded by the National Educational Department and located at Tongji University in Shanghai.
Tongji University, established in 1907 by Germans, has developed into one of the most famous multi-course comprehensive universities in China. It has nine academies of science, engineering, medicine, arts, law, philosophy, economics, business administration and education with a campus of 2,500,000 square meters. There are more than 60,000 faculties and students including 530 professors and other 4,000 faculties.
Twenty years ago, Prof. Xiao Hui Wang graduated from Tongji University’s most famous architecture faculty. She became a teacher at Tongji University after obtaining her master’s degree. Afterwards, she began to partly reside in Germany. In 2003, by invitation of the principal of the University, she set up an art workshop named after her at Tongji University. In 2006, she established TIMAC supplementary to her workshop. The TIMAC Institute has a work area of 2,000 square meters and an exhibition area of 300 square meters.
AIM AND TARGET
The aim of TIMAC is to establish media art subjects, to cultivate middle and senior professionals in media art and to promote the development of media art.
| Tongji University has the advantage of its comprehensive subjects which provide strong support for the research and development of media art. TIMAC will cooperate closely with the Tongji Media Communication College, Computer and Information College, Software College and City Layout College. TIMAC does not provide students with a bachelor’s degree and only offers post-graduate degrees including Master degree and Doctorate degree. |
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TIMAC will be the framework for the research of media art and engender China’s media art theory system and publish academic books on the subject.
TIMAC has the goal to become the most influential and important media art research and development, production and exhibition platform, international communication, education and training center.
COOPERATION
Xiao Hui Wang Art Workshop has successfully completed several art cooperation projects with local and foreign governments, art institutes and large-scale enterprises. The cooperation parties include:
The Shanghai Government and Hang Zhou Government, BMW, BASF and Volkswagen among others. In October 2006, Prof. Xiao Hui Wang delivered a lecture on Chinese-German cultural communication at the “Wirtschafswoche Jahrestagung”.
TIMAC will cooperate with outstanding national and foreign media art institutes and invite famous experts to do research, cooperate on projects and to deliver lectures regularly or by special invitation. During the preparation stage of TIMAC, several key projects have already been realized with the Shanghai Science Committee, Shanghai Museum and Nantong Government. There are many more projects under way.
EXPO 2010
The theme of the EXPO 2010 is Better City, Better life. There will be around 200 museums at the Expo and China will construct three of them, namely, “China Museum”, “Subject Museum” and “World Exhibition Museum” (also called “City Civilization Art Museum”) TIMAC has been invited to work on constructing the three museums.
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The creative proposal for the “World Exhibition Museum” is highly appreciated by the government. Since this museum is in the charge of the Shanghai Government, TIMAC has become its core member and will plan on the whole arrangement, content and display of exhibitions as well as the economical operation of that museum.
MEDIA ART DISPLAY RESEARCH LABORATORY
Expo 2010 will display the latest scientific and technological innovations of its time.
The national science and technological department and the Shanghai Government have now set up an “Expo technological scheme” and each year shall devote a huge amount of fund to foster the high-tech project research of the Expo until 2010. Thus the “Expo technological boost center” was established.
The “Expo technological boost center” appointed TIMAC to set up the “Media Art Display Research Laboratory” affiliated to Expo technological boost center which will research on the media art display measures and technological creativity of the large exhibitions.
At the same time, the “Expo technological boost center” appointed TIMAC to design a multi-functional exhibition hall to demonstrate scientific and technological achievements through media art in the Expo and update it annually from now until 2010.
MEDIA ART AND THEATER PERFORMANCE
“Media art and theater performance” is one crucial project that TIMAC is undertaking. TIMAC is analyzing the history, characteristics, current challenges and resulting strategies of Chinese traditional drama, and will try to rebuild and recreate it. TIMAC will then put the theoretical research results into practice and application. TIMAC has held an international symposium to learn from established experience and find foreign cooperation partners for the project mentioned above.
SUMMER SCHOOL
As part of a summer school program, Prof. Xiao Hui Wang has invited famous artists and art theorists from Germany, America, France and other parts of the world to Shanghai to deliver lectures and hold workshops on topics such as photography, painting, literature, music, architecture, art history and urban development. The most influential activity was the “National Photographic Competition of Creative Ideas” hosted by the Xiao Hui Wang workshop and BASF. We received 26,000 artworks from 120 participants from all over China. It received tremendous media coverage. TIMAC will continue with these successful programs in Summer School and systematically and periodically invite foreign experts to deliver speeches on different topics and hold workshops. We also intend to cooperate with the Goethe Institute for the summer school program.
TEAM
The director of TIMAC Prof. Xiao Hui Wang is a well-known artist who has published more than 30 photography and other books. She has frequently held solo art exhibitions in many galleries in different countries. Her photographic artworks, movies and biographical books have won national and international awards. Her photographic artworks were collected by many art institutes and individuals and have been noted in art history books. The famous Phoenix lifestyle magazine listed Xiao Hui Wang as one of the 50 “Chinese descendants that influence the future of the world”.
The core team members of TIMAC are artists, authors and media art experts from America, Germany, France, Canada and Taiwan. They are now TIMAC department heads and in charge of various projects.
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The basic team members are young professionals and post-graduate students of various majors. TIMAC has several departments, each working as a unit of research, production, teaching and learning. Each team head is in charge of one’s |
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team members and postgraduates students. Each department has its own projects according to the specialty of the experts and the division of work. |
VIDEO DATABASE AND TIMAC WEBSITE
The TIMAC Video database will accumulate original media artworks, media space design, documentary, photographic works, animations, media music, media games and media art theory documents. It will also establish personal art archives for media artists to facilitate teaching and researching. Part of the video database will be available soon.