In Europe as in most western countries, Guangzhou symbolizes the modern and commercial China. With a population of more than ten millions inhabitants, enjoying one of the highest standards of living in South East Asia, the city marries with harmony traditional and contemporary lives styles. The province has been for more than half a century the bridge between mainland China and Hong Kong and the West. January 15th 2005 will see the opening of the first Photo Encounters Biennial in Guangzhou China. The main organizer, the Guangdong Museum of Art, one of the most important Modern Art museum in China, and its director Mr. Wang Huangsheng have already initiated world class events: _ The first contemporary art triennial in 2002, with a success known the world over in art and cultural circles. _ The photography exhibition "Humanism in China" in December 2003. This exhibit including more than six hundreds prints will be shown in Europe and North America in 2005 accompanied by its exceptional catalogue published in France by Philippe Picquier publications. The museum began a policy of acquisition of photography by buying all prints from this exhibition. It is about to open a space dedicated to photography, its programming will be open to the world while trying to combine Chinese authors with foreign authors. This center of photography would be a privileged place for young photography while beeing under the supervision of the museum. The head curator for Chinese photography, Professor Gu Zheng, teaches history of photography at the Fudan university in Shanghai. In addition to his theoretical knowledge he is also one of the most recognized photography author and critic in the country. He collaborates regularly with photography galleries, the Museum of Shanghai and Guangzhou to organize exhibitions. He has just finished a long cycle of conferences and exhibitions, within the U.S. universities, to introduce Chinese photography. His wide knowledge of this subject is accompanied by the trust and often by the friendship of the artists. To conceive, to choose and carry out the biennial, we were given the support but especially the aid of An Ge, the "father" of contemporary photography in Guangzhou. This photographer uses his enthusiasm to channel and promote what we are obliged to recognize as "the school of Guangzhou". Agnes de Gouvion St-Cyr, general inspectrice for photography with the Ministry of Culture support the event in bringing her knowledge and her rigour, but also by opening the collection of the Fonds National d’Art Contemporain by conceiving an exhibition which will recall the emergence of contemporary photography while being based on a photographic view. The Pompidou Center will present the exhibition "Paris by Photographers" conceived and realized by Alain Sayag, curator with the museum. The prestigious house "Leica Camera AG" will honnour us with its support and its presence. The Biennial of photography will have a topic which will make it possible not to narrow the choice of the curators. We will develop the idea of the "Photographic City" with the title "Re-viewing the City". The questions about the environment and more particularly urban planning are very present in China but also in the West. Even if in certain fields, the Westerners have a certain advance on Asia, the comparison of the problems and the solutions suitable for each one can be visualized through photography, and this without the barrier of the language which is often an obstacle to comprehension.The artistic choices will include group shows; historical or contemporary, but will be mainly expressed through monographic exhibitions in order to offer a broad spectrum of Chinese photography while showing to the local public often new works and foreign authors seldom exhibited in this country. They will be shown in the splendid Guangdong Museum of Art but also in the museum of the Academy of Arts, within the library of the city, the university of architecture and in the Vitamin gallery to invest the city fully. These 60 exhibitions will be accompanied by projections, a symposium and discussions around the principal topic, in order to promote encounters. The catalogue, published for this occasion, will be the durable part of this explosion of images and its memory while waiting for the next biennial which, I hope will be annual. WANG HUANG SHENG / ALAIN JULLIEN Biennial Director / Artistic director Catherine Philippot - Relations Media 248, Boulevard Raspail 75014 Paris Tél. 01 40 47 63 42 Fax 01 40 47 62 42 cathphilippot@photographie.com