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According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2020 is the ‘Year of the Gengzi Rat’, the first animal in the 12-year zodiac cycle, within the 60-year sexagenary system and therefore, the rat (Zi) heralds the ‘beginning’. Reflections will follow on the cyclic nature of life and death and the unity of participation mystique initiated by the spirit of the rat.
The Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai, launched an exhibition, Participation Mystique , that explores concepts of unconscious interconnections as described by Jung through contemporary artistic representations, and has received widespread attention. (For more about this exhibition and museum, see mcam.io).
The exhibition theme is based on Jung's concept of participation mystique borrowed from anthropology where there is a blurring of boundaries between subject and object. Fourteen artists were inspired by Jung's understanding of this concept and other analytic theories to explore empathy and life trauma. Each creation shows complex spiritual linkages between people and the world. According to the curator's vision, this is a combination of ‘art and psyche’ with the potential for healing during the current time. I was invited