This is part of the "Communication" series, by the internationally famous Chinese performance artist Cang Xin.

Making his name in the 1990s as one of the controversial performance artists in China, Cang has arrived in the city from Beijing for tonight's opening of his first solo exhibition in Shanghai at the Eastlink Gallery.

It runs through the end of the month, but Cang will only be present at the opening - his world-famous tongue-licking is expected - it is his sign of communication and communion.

The exhibit shows photographs of his famous performances and masks of Cang will be placed about. .

Four elements of Cang's work will be presented: "Trampling Faces," "Identity Exchange," "Man and Sky as One" and "Communication." All explore concepts behind identity and communication through a series of photographs and physical contacts. They illustrate the shaman concept of a collision of souls.

"My art started mainly from two points in my life," says Cang. "When I was five years old, my parents divorced - this was a difficult time and had a strong emotional effect on me. The other point was when I was a student in Tianjin University," he recalls.

"From 1979, China adopted the open-up policy that had a huge effect on my generation. At that time, everything was new and everyone had an idealistic way of thinking, influenced by philosophical ideas and the West," he adds.

Cang joined the "Eastern Village" artists, a group that used their bodies to express their art concept. "It was quite violent. I had a lot of pressure from my family. It made me feel vulnerable, anxious and lost."

As a result, Cang became ill and withdrew into himself, blocking out the world and people around him.

"Inside I wanted to communicate and this is how the licking came about and why I call it 'communication'," he explains.

It's his signature.

Seeking to analyze performance art in China, Cang observed the differences between Western and Oriental performance art. "To me, it stems from religion - all religions in the West originate from the East if you look back far enough," he notes.

Cang says he is a shaman. Shamans believe that the living spirit exists in everything, in both animate and inanimate objects. Shamans are seen as mysterious spiritual envoys, which can transcend the boundaries of life and death, going in and out of different bodies.

Cang likens his art to a ceremony. "It is very simple and direct. I think shamanism is in lots of ways similar to performance art as you use your whole body to communicate with the surroundings."

Li Liang from the Eastlink Gallery says Cang is at the cutting edge of the Shanghai art scene.

"I want to shift the focus as so many people are showing Chinese contemporary art overseas, but now it is getting popular locally and should be shown here," says Li.

Shamanism gives Cang the background and influence to stand out in the saturated art industry.

"In today's art world you need to be original. I have two important elements in my work, nature and animal, and I use both to be original," says Cang.

His work is well known throughout the art world but he feels it will be best understood in his home county. Chinese people are closer to nature as they come from a predominantly agricultural society, he says.

"They are more attached to the natural world. In China the majority of people are peasants, so they can understand the essence of earth and land," he says. "But since they are heavily influenced by the West and high technology, many have become lost.

"I want to show the identity of this nation, now that China is in this global position. Who they are and where they came from is important. I want to show traditional values, the ideal of human and nature in harmony," he adds.

Date: November 17-30, 10am-6pm
Address: 5/F, Bldg 6, 50 Moganshan Rd
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