Shanghai: the Market of Arts

The city that is considered one of the main spots of Asian market witnessed the recent inauguration of the 9th Art Biennial, which is described by many people as the greatest international cultural event in the region. A surface of 18.000 square meters will be the exhibition ground, through March 31, for works created by over one hundred artists from 27 countries. This time, the event is accompanied by the opening of Powerhouse of Art museum.

“The history of art in China has written a new page today”, Xu Jiang, director of the Academy Committee for the Biennial, said it during the opening ceremony and commented: “We have reactivated an old thermal power station to produce new energy for Shanghai”. This is going to give it an opportunity to compete with Peking for the most lucrative art market in the world.

The objective of the event is clearly commercial, as it’s a platform to revive a market that is presently depressed in many other countries. However, artists not only exhibit what they are expected to, what has already been proved. Many of the have conceived bold pieces from a formal and conceptual approach, such is the case of Japanese Simon Fujiwara, with a large-scale installation (in process throughout the event) that winks at the image of terracotta warriors of Xi’an; or Cameroonian Pascale Mathine Tayou, who created an impressive column with vases from several dynasties.

The first two editions were exclusively restricted to traditional techniques (Chinese ink, watercolor and oil) and the presentation of Chinese artists, since 2000 the Biennial of Shanghai has been open for international artists and curators. Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of China and the municipal government of Shanghai, the biennial is organized by the Museum of Art and the Culture Office of the city.

As brand-new element, this edition, curated by Qiu Zhijie, Boris Groys, Jens Hoffmann and Johnson Chang,has invited 29 cities to create and exhibit installations as cultural bridge, as well as to express in their own way the event’s slogan: REACTIVATION.

Source: El Pais Digital and http://universes-in-universe.de