Not having lived in Shanghai for most of my adult life, I don't much consider myself a Shanghaining in its cultural sense, though it's undeniable that the fact I was born in Shanghai and my parents were born in Shanghai makes me a Shanghaining. In fact, I have gotten together with a colleague who left and returned about the same time as I did, and complained how clueless Shanghaining are. They delude themselves as social sophisticates when they have no clue about consideration for others when in public, standing on the left side of escalators, cutting in lines, honking mercilessly at every opportunity, parading on the street in pajamas, shouting into their mobile phones, etc, etc.
This past Sunday, we went to the Shanghai Art Museum 2006 Biennial Hyperdesign exhibit. We were completely taken by surprise. The exhibit was so well curated, John and I went around gawking at everything, fascinated and enchanted. At the same time, I was brooding over this jealousy for Shanghaining. We have traveled the world, seen a lot & done a lot. Yet a mere two-month long Biennial broadened my horizon and opened my eyes. Shanghaining can just go down the street leisurely stroll to the exhibit on a Sunday and it happens for them every two years! None of this traipsing around the world is necessary. No wonder Shanghaining consider themselves as sophisticates, not to mention the cosmopolitan world they live in, mix of Chinese/West, modern/colonial/3rd world. The world comes to them.
The Shanghai Art Museum is housed in the former clubhouse of the horse race course from the colonial past. In the 1950's, the Communists demolished the old horse racing track and turned it into People's Park and People's Square. The old clubhouse became the public library. In the 1990's the park, was reduced in size, the square "filled in", and we now have the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai Opera House, and the Shanghai Grand Theatre in their place.
We caught the Biennial on its 1st Sunday afternoon. A lot of other people had the same idea. We got there at the right time. 15 minutes after we went in, the line started going out of the door. By the time we left, the line was going around the building. I credit Shanghaining for having the good taste of catching/creating such a top rate exhibit. Click here to go to the homepage.
The content of exhibit is entirely accessible. The audience was really having fun. The museum had the atmosphere of a science museum. The level of interaction between art & its audieunparalleledparallel.
We were so enthralled by the exhibit, we are already planning on going back before it closes in November.
John says: I become an ugly American again. Let me ramble a bit starting with the first time I was an ugly American. Several years ago we flew to Marrakesh from Paris. On arriving we set our watches back one hour to the local time. I was excited to be in Morocco, and Marrakesh. I giddily exchanged a few words of French with the taxi driver on the way in from the airport. A certain CSN&Y song was playing in my head. I was ecstatic to find an internet cafe with a French keyboard and sent email to all my friends with every "a" and "q" reversed. Thqt wqa auite fun. I snickered to myself when I noticed that the clock on the wall of the internet cafe was off by one hour. These locals don't even bother to keep the correct time.
The first hotel we stayed in was not up to standard so the next morning we inquired about a room at a well known backpacker hotel (the name of which escapes me now). The woman behind the counter had a free room and said to come back at 12 noon and the room would be ready. When we showed up at noon, the room was not ready. I thought these locals are not with it. Well to make a long story short, I will reveal what you have probably guessed. Morocco is two hours behind France, not one, and we were so arrogant that we went about our business for almost two days thinking that we knew the time better than the locals. That explained the internet cafe clock, the woman's wrist watch at the hotel, the hotel room non-readiness, the children walking to school at 10am, and the tourist attraction that was supposed to close in 5 minutes but was actually open for another hour. I was mortified that I had been an ugly American.
So now I'm in Shanghai. I few months ago we went to a special exhibit of Impressionist drawings and paintings at the Shanghai Museum (not to be confused with the Shanghai Art Museum). Of course I know how to handle my self at such an exhibit. I've been to the Prado in Madrid, The Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, etc. You first study the work from a distance, careful not to get in anyone else's line of sight. You don't touch the art. It's uncool to take photos even if no "no flash" is allowed. Sketching is OK and very cool. You wish you could draw. You read your guidebook's description of the work or punch a number on your audio guide and stand then in awe of the work of The Masters. "Wow" you whisper to your companion.
Thus I was shocked when this method did not work in Shanghai. The locals like to really enjoy and understand art up close and personal. They stand eyeball, nose, and finger to canvas. They touch, take illegal photos, and talk loudly. They come and stand right in front of you as you admire the work from a distance. I shook my head. Uncivilized. This is an art museum, not a "touch and feel" science museum. And then ... I unhappily elbowed my way in close to each work to get a good look....Much to my surprise, a close-up view of an impression drawing or painting with lots of neighbors is pretty neat. And why not chat loudly with my companion. It's not a hospital. So I found myself enjoying the exhibit quite a bit. Maybe "up close" is the way to enjoy art...Once again the ugly American reveals himself and repents.
So... We now come to the Shanghai Art Museum 2006 Biennial -- HyperDesign. So just what is HyperDesign? ... Anyway this was quite an exhibit with a large, lively, and loud crowd, not to mention that everyone had a cell phone or camera and was clicking away. Photos were allowed. I was very happy. Rarely are cameras allowed in museums and I was ready for up-close art.
The show was fantastic. The best ever. I took 165 photos and short videos, too many to show here. So what we have below is about 4 minutes of video. Sorry that I do not know the artists. I'll have to go back and buy the catalog. And Â… below that, about 20 photos. Each is a photo of someone taking a photo of the art or posing for a photo in front of the art or both. Hope you find that interesting.
《HALONG-KELLONG NO.1》 by Shi Jinsong. It's a cross btw the poor man's walking tractor and the rich man's Harley.
《Valiant Struggle NO.10》 by Chen Wenling
《Urbanus-Male》 and 《Urbanus-Female》 by Choe-U-Ram
《Dazzled》 by Wang Luyan - See if you can find the photographer - me - in this one.
《Fake Female Artist Life》 by Mathilde ter Heijne
《The Eternal Wow 1260》 by Sylvie Fleury
The artist is Julian Opie.
"Wall Adhesive Tape" by Ceal Floyer UK
《Nightlife-Xintiandi》 by Daniel Lee
《Bala de Leite》 by Beatriz Milhazes
《Four Seasons》 by Jimmy
《Four Seasons》 by Jimmy
《Landscape: A Tribute to Huang Binhong》 by Shen Fan
《Landscape: A Tribute to Huang Binhong》 by Shen Fan
《Untitled》 by shilpa gupta (I think) ;-)
3 comments:
perhaps they should rename the museum to Shanghai moma ;) what a cool city to be living in! i wish i could catch the November tennis masters cup there. are you sure you want to be back in Raleigh in 2 years?:) --weiqing
Yeah, the NC Museum of Art throws out art students daring to try sketching at one of their precious special exhibitions. :( --jaydro
john, i enjoyed reading your ugly american part. think of it this way: art in china is more intimate with the viewers; it's the people's art. it moves you, so you can't hide your emotions, reactions, fingers, cameras...:):) thank you for sharing your tour. -- weiqing
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