On November 4, 2019, the second edition of Shanghai Curators Lab officially launched at the south campus of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts (SAFA). The lead professors of this edition are Yongwoo Lee, the professor of SAFA at Shanghai University, and Sam Bardaouil & Till Fellrath, founders of “artReoriented”, a multidisciplinary curatorial platform based in New York and Munich, and the co-chairmen of the Montblanc Foundation. 21 young curators selected through international open call will start one-month residency for research and study in Shanghai before they come up with their respective curatorial presentations by the end of the residency, among which one proposal will be selected for realization.

Chen Zhigang, project director of Shanghai International Art City (SIAC) research institute, hosted the opening ceremony and welcomed all the participants.

Since the operation for two editions, the Lab has gradually gained its prominent role and international reputation as the bridge and hub connecting art and educational institutions in China and beyond. Chen Zhigang mentioned that the number of applicants for the two editions has accumulated over 230, involving more than 30 countries. The 21 curators selected this time stood out from all applicants through independent scoring by the SCL lead professors and the representatives from the collaborative partners.

Subsequently, the three lead professors spoke one by one sharing their understanding and outlook on the Lab.

Professor Yongwoo Lee introduced the original intention of establishing the Lab. As the only kind in China serving as interdisciplinary platform generated by multi-parties including the academy, art museums, and the art city, the Lab holds an international perspective towards the future, aiming to cultivate curators who can lead the world's frontier culture and artistic trend through exploration and experimental methods under a diverse cultural background. 

Yongwoo Lee, the lead professor of Shanghai Curators Lab 2

Sam Bardaouil & Till Fellrath took the stage together to share their understanding of curation and the roles of curators. They stressed that they do not come to "teach", but instead, to lead and guide the curators to conduct different layers of discussion as a mentor, with the expectation of the achievements by participating curators.

Till Fellrath (left) and Sam Bardaouil (right), the lead professors of Shanghai Curators Lab 2

Under the encouragement of lead professors, the participating curators came to the stage in turn to introduce themselves. Among the participants, some are already working in internationally renowned art institutions, some are just graduated from colleges or still pursuing higher education, while some are independent and experienced curators who have been involved in many projects. Besides, there are also artist with unique perception of the curation, cross-disciplinary cultural practitioner, and art institutions manager etc. The diverse cultural background and global vision of curators will surely inject vitality into the Lab.

Irene Campolmi, curator based in Copenhagen, curated the Performance Program for Enter Art Fair, Copenhagen, and co-curated the Estonian Pavilion Birth V.Hi, & Byeby Kris Lemsalu at the 58th Venice Biennale.

Joseph Constable, London-based curator, writer and producer, assistant curator at the Serpentine Galleries

Bo Ding, independent Chinese curator, artist, a prolific translator of contemporary art and a contributor to various media.

Then, the head of programs of the Lab, Liyin Wang, introduced the intensive courses of the month, which includes 19 themed lectures, 20 seminars, 10 site visits, 1 large-scale academic seminar, and 2 independent presentations. The Lab invites many guest speakers including Karen Smith, founding director of OCAT Xi'an, and Lu Yinghua, director of Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum etc., covering the topics of new media art, architecture, urban cultural project, art museum, galleries, cultural publicity and promotion, etc., which will open up a full range of visions for curators’ fostering of interdisciplinary thinking. At the same time, the curators will spread their steps into the major art galleries, galleries, studio etc., together with a one-day trip to Wuzhen, where they can experience the new atmosphere of the integration of traditional ancient towns and modern art.

Baosteel Industrial Heritage (the construction of International Art City is undergoing)

It is worth mentioning that as partner institutions of the Shanghai Curator Lab, the Power Station of Art and TANK Shanghai offer special occasions for exchanges. The participating curators to the Lab will visit the “Emerging Curators Project 2019” at the Power Station of Art and join the selection of the grand prize of the project. TANK Shanghai will provide the venue for curators’ final presentation of their exhibition proposal and support the implementation of the award-winning project in 2020.

Power Station of Art

TANK Shanghai

As the first presentation on the opening day, the lead professor Yongwoo Lee gave a lecture entitled “Mirrors of Utopia / Dystopia”, sharing about the “Shanghai Project”, an idea platform focusing on art, humanities, and covering a wide range of fields including science, technology, medicine and ecology etc., which triggered warm discussion about the social significance and the curatorial strategy of art.

On-site discussion among the participating curators

With the gradual deepening of the lectures, discussions, studio visits, and cultural researches, the discussions and exchanges among curators will heat up. In the process of exploring the international artistic and culture context in Shanghai, the curators will contribute their wisdom and put the energy into the open and inclusive spirit of Shanghai city, while carry on the enlightenment they gain here into the global practices in various fields.