Archaeology of the contemporary

On a construction site, the artist took a lump of earth that she put on a table. A short text in Chinese invited anyone to take part in the artwork by taking a piece of the clod, placing it in the center of the table and writing their personal vision of the history of this earth.

The table, fitted with casters is mobile.

From the site under construction, Delphine Richer moved through the city to the art center. First she was in contact with the construction site workers, after what residents of the neighborhood also took part and then residents from elsewhere coming out of a metro station. In the end, art lovers also participated when Delphine met them in the art district where she ended her route in the Xiang Xishi Art Center. There, to the audience made up of people who came for the event and passers-by who followed her, Delphine read aloud the stories written by all the participants.

This reading was the one and only reading of this text. The artist rolled it on a bamboo stick and sealed it permanently with a red ribbon. The earth was cooked later.

These elements became the archive pieces of this performance entitled “Archaeology of the Contemporary”.

Geographical context

Xi’An is the former capital of China during the Qin dynasty. It in this multi-millennial history city that we can see the impressive clay army “Bimayong” (兵马俑), literally “Funeral Statues of Soldiers and Horses”, tomb of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang (end of the 3rd century BC).

Today, Xi’An like all cities in China, is experiencing a period of very fast development and transformations. On previously cultivated land, 30-floors residential towers suddenly rise. It is on one of these sites under construction that the performance “Archeology of the Contemporary” starts.