CAOCHANGDI PHOTOSPRING Opening week: April 17 to 22 Exhibitions: April 17 to June 30 EXHIBITIONS More than thirty exhibitions will be held in the Caochangdi art district, with exclusive programming from the Rencontres d'Arles, as well as shows by members of the flourishing Chinese photographic scene and international artists. Lucien Clergue will show his marvelous photos of Picasso, documenting for the Chinese public the friendship that bound the two artists; Pierre Gonnord's surprising portraits will be presented for the first time in Beijing; visitors will be able to explore the universe of Daido Moriyama, a key figure in Japanese photography and winner of the Arles 2004 No Limit prize, and discover the exceptional landscapes of dust by Naoya Hatakeyama. Rimaldas Viksraitis, Prix Découverte of the Rencontres d'Arles 2009 will be present, alongside the twenty laureates of the Three Shadows Award. Han Lei, Mo Yi and Wu Yinxian, important figures in the Chinese photographic scene, will be honored with solo exhibitions, in addition to their younger colleagues such as Chi Peng or Cai Weidong. Numerous group exhibitions will present works ranging from digital photography to Polaroids and vintage prints, while also placing an emphasis on photography books. With this multifaceted approach, the Caochangdi Photospring will offer a new forum for contemporary photography. SYMPOSIUM Two days of discussion and reflection among more than fifteen participants will offer a lively debate on the question of creation today in the face of the demands of the art market. LECTURES DE PORTFOLIOS One hundred young photographers living in China will have the opportunity to submit their work for a critique by twenty experts from around the world. Among the experts are directors of photography museums, festival directors, art critics, independent curators, and so on. EVENING PROJECTIONS Night of the Year 2009 and Night of Europe 2008 will be screened for the first time outside of Europe, lighting up the walls of Caochangdi with the sights and sounds from the Rencontres d'Arles. The book 1989: 365 Art Days in China and Germany will be presented with a projection and a conference. Day by day, the book covers 365 days of the year 1989, as seen through the eyes of nearly two hundred artists and photographers working in China and Germany that year. It is both the first book on 1989 in China, and the first book to connect the history of China and Germany in that eventful year. The book Sound Kapital: Beijing's Music Underground by the young American photographer Matthew Niederhauser will be celebrated in a projection retracing Beijing's youthful and intrepid rock scene. The evening will culminate in a series of concerts by musicians from the Chinese rock scene. The Three Shadows Outdoor Film Series is an annual event presenting Chinese underground documentaries. This year, the theme is "the people's vision and the system."