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ICC at the ROM presents Shanghai Kaleidoscope in May 2008

Architecture, urban design, art and fashion from Shanghai’s next generation of creators

Today, the Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announced the addition of Shanghai Kaleidoscope to its 2008 exhibition schedule during a news conference at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai, China. Guest-curated by Christopher Phillips of New York’s International Center for Photography and organized by the ICC at the ROM, the exhibition will offer an unprecedented view of one of the world's most dynamic cities, highlighting an emerging generation of Chinese artists, architects, and fashion designers. Generously supported by Manulife Financial, the exhibition will open in May 2008 in the ICC’s new gallery in the ROM’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal.

Today’s news conference presented the first extensive preview of the exhibition. Kelvin Browne, ICC Managing Director, and exhibition curator Christopher Phillips were joined by the exhibition’s architecture consultant Ma Qingyun, principal of the Shanghai-based firm MADA s.p.a.m, exhibition fashion consultant Sally Wu, and Susan Gregson, Canadian Consul General in Shanghai. While in China, the project organizers are meeting with Shanghai architects, urban planners, artists, fashion designers, museum directors, and city cultural officials.

“Shanghai, a city with a legendary past, is fast becoming Asia’s 21st-century centre for imaginative art, architecture, and fashion,” said Christopher Phillips. “By exploring the latest directions taken by Shanghai’s most creative young talents, the exhibition will bring the extraordinary sights and sounds of contemporary Shanghai to Toronto.”

Examining Shanghai as a laboratory for 21st-century urban creation, Shanghai Kaleidoscope will focus on four key aspects of the city's vibrant culture: architecture, urban design, contemporary art, and fashion. The exhibition will bring together an adventurous mix of architectural models and digital simulations; designer fashion apparel, drawings and runway videos; and paintings, photo-works and video installations by the city's leading contemporary artists. Presented in a specially designed installation in the ICC gallery, the show will provide an insider's view of the high-speed, high-density, high-rise culture that is rapidly emerging in China's largest city, as seen from the vantage of those who are taking part in Shanghai's astonishing transformation and growth. More than 35 artists, architects and fashion designers will participate in the ICC exhibition. As final selections are made in the coming months, additional details of the exhibition's contents will be released.

Shanghai Kaleidoscope will be one of the first exhibitions on display in the ICC’s dramatic new gallery atop the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, this new ROM wing is scheduled to open in mid-2007. With its angular walls and soaring interior spaces, it will provide a spectacular setting for the exhibition.

The ICC at the ROM plays a vital role in a museum whose collections embrace many civilizations, as well as the record of nature through the ages. In the context of the ROM’s lively documentation of history, the ICC explores current cultural issues through exhibitions of art and architecture, lectures, film series, and informal gatherings. The ICC is the ROM’s window on contemporary society. For more information on the ICC, visit www.rom.on.ca/about/icc/ or contact the ICC at 416.586.5524, e-mail: icc@rom.on.ca.

Shanghai Kaleidoscope adds an exciting contemporary dimension to the ROM's longstanding commitment to traditional Asian art and architecture. In December 2005, as part of the Museum’s expansion and restoration project, the ROM opened four new and renovated galleries featuring Chinese art and archaeology. The expanded and redesigned galleries showcase the ROM's outstanding Chinese collection, ranked among the finest outside China. The galleries include the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Gallery of China, the Bishop White Gallery of Chinese Temple Art, the Matthews Family Court of Chinese Sculpture, and the ROM Gallery of Chinese Architecture.

 

 

Issue date:
November 6, 2006

For more information:
Media Relations
Tel.: 416.586.5547
Fax: 416.586.8022
E-mail: media@rom.on.ca

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