The first phase of the inaugural Shanghai Project, a cross-disciplinary event directed by Lee Yongwoo and Hans Ulrich Obrist, opened last week with the debut of Sou Fujimoto’s Envision Pavilion. The delicate structure of white scaffolding, glass and plants evokes London’s Crystal Palace and serves as a site for public events and performances. For the opening, it housed Otobong Nkanga’s collaborative project Landversation, which features talks with people whose work involves land, including the Brazil-based ecopsychologist Peter Webb.
“The first phase focuses on the public programme, about the human race 100 years from now,” Lee said at a press conference. Phase two, starting next April, will include an exhibition and focus more on technology and ecology. He described the project as “evolutionary”, with art comprising less than 40% of the project, the rest informed by the social and natural sciences.
Participants in the second phase include the Chinese artist Qiu Anxiong, whose animations explore ecological themes, the French philosopher Bruno Latour, and the Italian architect Stefano Boeri. Also joining are Kim Dae-Shik, a South Korean neuroscientist who pens a popular science column, and the American artist and filmmaker Sophia Al Maria. The project’s associate curator Michelle Hyun says dozens more participants will be added, and that Shanghai Project should be viewed as an ongoing experiment rather than a completed entity.
Phase one also features a children’s educational pavilion in nearby Century Park and an exhibition of young artists in the water town Zhujiajiao. “The project is about the future, its scenarios, and solving big issues,” Obrist said. “This is a very special moment in Shanghai, a renaissance with so many museums. We are really excited to add something to that.”