With essays by Jane DeBevoise, Lee Weng Choy, Mia Yu, Carol Yinghua Lu and Liu Ding; archival texts by Xu Hong and Zhou Zixi; reflections from participants such as Ai Weiwei, Chen Lingyang, Chen Yanyin, Feng Boyi, Hou Hanru, Li Liang, Li Xiangyang, Li Xu, Liang Shaoji, Xu Zhen, Yang Zhenzhong, Yang Zhichao, Zhang Qing, Zheng Shengtian and Zhu Yu, assembled by Anthony Yung; and an introduction by John Tain.
Shanghai’s ‘exhibition frenzy’ in 2000 presented conflicting positions at a transitional moment for ‘global’ contemporary art. This book explores what was at stake for modernity, contemporaneity, nationalism, internationalism and globalism in the city at the time, while looking back from diverse perspectives today. Landmark artist-led initiatives are analysed alongside the state-led Shanghai Biennale, then in its third edition, with the terrain further complicated by public interventions and commercial initiatives. What contrasting modes of public address were developed? How did visitors engage at the time, and how may we engage afresh now? And how might this moment in Shanghai index wider transformations of the art field?
The Exhibition Histories series addresses what happens when art becomes public.
Published by Afterall Books, in association with Asia Art Archive and the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, 2020. Distributed by Koenig Books and ARTBOOK | D.A.P.