Marc Gauthier

With the exhibit Shanghai Kaleidoscope, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) sheds some light on China’s largest city. Shanghai’s creativity is here presented in four different artistic expressions: architecture, urban aesthetic, contemporary art and fashion.

The museum has undergone a major transformation since beginning of the millennium [1]. Under the project Renaissance ROM, the institution was reorganized. The entrance was moved and visitors are now welcomed into the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal building (Fig. 1). This multi-faceted wing gives a futuristic look to an heritage building.

Figure 1 [2]. Royal Ontario Museum. Picture: wikipedia.org, under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license

This modern add-on on a museum where almost all the collection is devoted to the ancient arts can be used to emphasize the incongruity of Shanghai Kaleidoscope at the ROM. The exhibition is presented by The Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC), which explores contemporary cultural and social topics [3]. It is their third exhibition [4]. We are witnessing therefore the infancy of the incursion of the ROM in contemporary art.

The marriage may create some confusion in the mind of many visitors. How so? Bear in mind that the room next to the exhibit is dedicated to fashion and textiles. Dresses from the eighteenth century and looms are offered in traditional contemplation. The floor below is devoted to the arts in Precolombian America, Pacific islands, Africa and the Middle East. It is with his/her head filled with images of statues, ritual objects and other artifacts that the visitor enters this contemporary art exhibit on the rapid transformation of China. The shock is brutal and several people speak aloud on the presence of art contemporary in the room. In this regard, it seems that the design should be reviewed to allow a smooth transition between the permanent collections museum and temporary exhibitions devoted to today’s creativity.

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Figure 2. Houses in Bund district, circa 1880.

Hence, the presence of Shanghai 1860-1949: Historical Photographs (Fig. 2) can serve as an introduction despite its location on the ground floor. Located in the area devoted to traditional arts of the Korea, China and Japan, this exhibition presents photographs chronicling life of Europeans in the Chinese city at the turn of the twentieth century. This exhibits fits perfectly with its surroundings. In it, visitors learn that British, French and Americans established trade concessions, to the dismay of Chinese authorities. Being outside the reach of local laws, trade flourished. This wealth has led to the construction of buildings of neo-classical architecture on Bund street.

This historical fact is the first pillar necessary to appreciate Shanghai Kaleidoscope. Indeed, the contemporary art exhibition shows the reaction of artists to the changes suffered by their city since the early 1990s. This European heritage is part of the past that some artists may wish to protect.

The other pillar necessary to appreciate this exhibition concerns the changes the city has suffered for the last fifteen years [5]. Thus, after the Second War World and following the advent of the Republic People of China, foreign concessions were placed under Chinese control. While foreigners would find refuge in Hong Kong, Chinese continued to make the city an important industrial centre. Its economic importance has been given a new impulse during the 90s when the government put in place tax incentives to encourage its development.

From a commercial standpoint, the city is a veritable success. Since 2005, its port manages the largest cargo traffic in the world. Its stock exchange is the most important in China. Its gross domestic product has increased by 13% in 2007 alone. It counts for 6% of Chinese GDP.This economic wealth is accompanied by a unprecedented population growth. The population of the urban agglomeration approaches 15 million. To accommodate these people, many dwellings were built. The residential towers have proliferated. More than 4000 buildings over 20-storeys high have been built in the city, which is twice New York’s numbers. Another 1000 are planned.

The attitude of China towards the preservation of heritage is ambivalent. It is explained by Ma Qingyun, a Chinese iconoclastic architect, in the exhibition catalogue [6]. The usual philosophy towards growth has been to raze and rebuild. If Chinese are not opposed to urban conservation areas, they adopt a Confucean approach of managing the flow and change. Therefore, the architect does not preserve a space that prevents future opportunities. Since territory is limited, this would freeze development for future generations.

So, in assessing Shanghai Kaleidoscope, we must have this knowledge of the past and of the current economic growth of the city. Without such information, the visitor cannot grasp the meaning of the installations that are proposed. Unfortunately, the texts accompanying the works emphasizes the western perspective on the preservation of historic monuments. The point of view of Qingyun is not (or little) presented. Rather, it is the nostalgia that takes over.

Figure 3. Cover of the book Phantom Shanghai by Greg Girard.

This approach is apparent in the works of two artists of Western origins, Italian Olivo Barbieri and Canadian Greg Girard. The latter offers photographs taken between 2001 and 2006. Extracted from the book Phantom Shanghai (Fig. 3), this collection of images wants preserve the memory of the city as it existed between 1949 and 1990. It follows a presentation traditional buildings surrounded by demolition debris. The photos show the remaining buildings as islands of the past in a sea of bricks, beams and plaster scattered on the ground. The city appears to have suffered bombings, much like these images of European cities ravaged by war. The power of evocation is very strong. If the artist describes himself as anti-nostalgic [7], presenting buildings in such a manner fuels an exaltation of the past.

Meanwhile, Olivo Barbieri offers Site_Specific Shanghai 05, a film of a dozen minutes. Taken from the air, the film presents the images of the numerous towers that populate the megalopolis. On those buildings, the white coating turns brown. They stand on a ground continuously hammered where pools of stagnant water multiply. The trees are rare in this vision of Shanghai as a construction site. since the image eventually all look alike, it creates in the mind of the spectator a sens of hypnotism and vacuum that invites thought on the disappearance of a way of life under the hammer. Very powerful - it gives the impression that all buildings are similar and the only variety is reflected in the organic development of old districts. Unlike a tourist film, it avoids sightseeing spots such as Bund street and the People’s Square.

This view is in sharp contrast with the vision offered by Crystal CG Shanghai in Shanghai Panorama 2008. In a film created on a computer that presents itself as an overview of the city, viewers stroll in a virtual world presenting an idealized version of today’s Shanghai. If brown and dirt dominate the work of Barbieri, here vibrates blues and greens in an opulent fashion. The trees are numerous, there are no visible defects and all the characters smile in this imaginary world. Standardization is de rigueur, the dominant aesthetic criterion appearing to be display of the Chinese flag associated with an utopian conception of happiness. If propaganda infiltrates in this document, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Indeed, this company is the official multimedia supplier of the Beijing Olympics and the Shanghai World Expo of 2010. This work must therefore be decoded using the commercial criteria with which it has been produced. Nevertheless, it is a master reminderthat the city’s development is positivily seen by a huge fraction of the population.

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Figure 4. Let’s Puff [image from the installation], Yang Zhenzhong.

The observation of change that can’t be stopped seems to be the inevitable common link of Chinese artists speaking on the transformation of Shanghai. No work better illustrates this than Let’s Puff (2002) by Yang Zhenzhong (Fig. 4). This installation consists of two video projections that are facing. On one of the screens is projected the image of a young woman looking timid. Periodically, she takes a great inspiration, raises her hand and uses it as a springboard to send her breath to the other screen. Our gaze then turns to that screen where passerbies roam in an anonymous street of the city. As soon as the breath of the young woman is heard, this image begins to tremble at its pace. This work illustrates the wind of change hitting the traditional Chinese lifestyle.

The same artist offers another video installation at the entrance of the exhibition. Light and Easy 2 (2002) is a projection of the image of Zhenzhong keeping the Shanghai buildings in balance in his hands (Fig. 5). The skyline of Shanghai is reversed and the top of the Oriental Pearl Radio Tower stands at the end of his index. In this visual metaphor, the winds of change are blowing too, while the population maintains the city up in a continuous and fragile game of balance.

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Figure 5. Light and Easy 2 [still from the video], Yang Zhenzhong.

In Shanghai, August 18-19, 2004 and Shanghai, April 8-9, 2005, Shi Guorui proposes to capture the transformations incurred by the metropolis (Fig. 6 for illustration of his work). Enclosing a hotel room in the dark , he uses the principle of camera obscura. His film captures the light emanating from the city over the next eight hours or so. It results in a dialogue between the old quarter of Bund street with the new business district from which the ephemeral nature is abstracted. This (in)action triggers a feeling of reconciliation between commercial activities past and present.

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Figure 6. Shanghai 9 May 2005, Shi Guorui. This image is not present in Shanghai but the Shanghai Kaleidoscope work is similar.

A similar approach is displayed in Gravity - Shanghai Night Sky (2004) by Shi Yong in a series of photographs capturing the summit of a few skyscrapers of the city. By removing the body of buildings to concentrate on their coronation, the artist stresses an urban profile constantly changing and this new way by which to define Shanghai: its towers. The projection nearby Flutter, Flutter, Jasmine, Jasmine (2002) by Yang Fudong is presented as a response by human presence to concrete buildings. In this fictional story of a young couple living in one of skyscrapers of the city, the contrast between idealism of silly folk songs and raw realism of urban space is sung in a spirit of karaoke. In doing so, the artist manages to extirpate the humanity of his characters, despite the inhumanity of the places.

Only one piece from China appears to reject modernity in a more direct way. It is the video Crumpling Shanghai (2000) from Song Dong. The principle is simple: a film of Shanghai’s traditional way of life is projected onto a white sheet of paper on a black background. After a few seconds, hands appear to crease the paper and crush the images of the past. The process is redone with a new image and a new page. The fragility of urban life and its transience are supported in this powerful evocation.

Also, a work of Shen Fan is present in the exhibition, but the installation is not complete. Moreover, creations from fashion designers Gao Xin, Wang Yiyang and Zhang Da are proposed. Interviews - most of whom are in Mandarin without subtitles - and films featuring the city can also be viewed.

This exhibition allows the Canadian viewer to familiarize himself/herself with contemporary art occurring in Shanghai. This city of constant changes is a reflection of China as a whole. In a world where everything that touches China is bound to become more important over the years, it is an unexpected opportunity to see significant works created by artists at the forefront of the Shanghai scene.

If the ROM is not a museum of modern art, the insertion contemporary works from an empire of the past is a good idea. However, the gap between the permanent collections and this exhibition is very large. Regular visitors may feel lost and the exhibit may not have an attraction power strong enough for contemporary art enthousiasts. This event runs the risk of oversight by the Toronto public, unfortunately.

Useful information

• Kaleidoscope Shanghai is presented by the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto). It runs until 26 October 2008. [ details and location]
• Schedule From Monday to Thursday: 10 to 17:30Friday: 10 to 21:30 Saturday and Sunday: 10 to 17:30
• Admission Adults: $ 22 Reduced fares: $ 19 Children: $ 15 [details]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Shanghai”. Wikipedia, [online], 2008, <http://www.wikipedia.org> (accessed on August 10 2008).

ROYAL MUSEUM OF ONTARIO. Website of the Royal Museum of Ontario, [online], <http://www.rom.on.ca/>, (site consulted on August 10, 2008).

CHESNEAUX, Jean and Jean DELVERT. “Shanghai [Chang-Hai]“. Encyclopedia Universalis, [online], 2007, < http://www.universalis-edu.com/> (consulted on 10 August 2008).

LÉTOURNEAU, Jocelyn. Le coffre à outils du chercheur débutant. Montreal, Boréal, 2006, 266 p.

PHILLIPS, Christopher. Shanghai Kaleidoscope. Exhibition catalogue. (Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, May 3 — November 2, 2008). Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, 2008, 144 p.

LIST OF FIGURES
Figures
1. Royal Ontario Museum - Royal Ontario Museum. 2007. Digital Photography. 2518 x 1747 pixels. Wikipedia Commons (photo taken from Wikipedia Commons, June 2007, Royal Ontario Museum, [online], <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Royal_Ontario_Mu seum.jpg>, (accessed on August 10, 2008)).
2. House Bund district. [no date]. Digital photography. 180 x 160 pixels. Royal Ontario Museum (photo taken from the Royal Ontario Museum, 2008, House Bund district, [online], <http://www.rom.on.ca/exhibitions/special/shanghai_photo_ en.php>, (accessed on August 10, 2008)).
3. Girard, Greg. Book cover of Phantom Shanghai. 2007. Digital photography. 400 x 321 pixels. Thames & Hudson [publishers] (photo taken from FNAC, 2008, Phantom Shanghai,[online], <http://livre.fnac.com/a1971873/Greg-Girard- Phantom Shanghai-> (accessed on August 10, 2008)).
4. Zhenzhong, Yang. Let’s Puff. 2002. Video profection on two channels. Courtesy of the artist and the Haudenschild Collection (La Jolla, USA) (photo taken from Canadian Art, Shanghai Kaleidoscope: Global and China the 21st Century, [online], <http://www.canadianart.ca/online/see-it/2008/05/08/shanghai-kaleidoscope /> (accessed on August 10, 2008)).
5. Zhenzhong, Yang. Light and Easy 2. 2002. Video projection on a singlechannel (6 min), sound. Courtesy of the artist and of the Haudenschild Collection (La Jolla, USA) (photo from Canadian Art, Shanghai Kaleidoscope: Global China and the 21st Century, [online], <http://www.canadianart.ca/online/see-it/2008/05/08/shanghai-kaleidoscope /> (accessed August 10, 2008)).
6. Guorui, Shi. Shanghai May 9th 2005. Camera Obscura, on gelatin silver. (photo taken from Artnet, Shi Guorui, [online], <http://www.artnet.com/artist/424491738/shi-guorui.html>, (accessed on August 10, 2008)).

NOTES
[1] The information concerning the ROM is taken from the website of the institution.
[2] The photographs in this document is from various electronic sources which explains their uneven quality. They are presented to support the text and they must in no way replace it.
[3] Christopher Phillips, Shanghai Kaleidoscope, exhibition catalogue (Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, May 3 - November 2, 2008), Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, 2008, p. 18.
[4] Ibid.
[5] The information on the development of Shanghai is from the exhibition catalogue, Encyclopedia Universalis (whose bibliography stops in 1962) and they are supplemented by a few comments from Wikipedia contributors.
[6] Philips, op. , p. 24.
[7] Ibid, p. 113.