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July 15, 2019

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Your chance to repaint your city’s iconic waterfront, and win money

The city’s urban planning authority is inviting artists to design five artworks that will be on permanent display on the waterfront of Yangpu District.

Artists from across the world are welcome to send their designs between August 26 and 31. Five winning works will be selected and publicized on September 28 as key exhibits for the biennial Shanghai Urban Space Art Season 2019 between September and November, the organizer said over the weekend.

The works will be placed beside the industrial heritage of the city’s earliest shipyard as well as water, tobacco, gas and soap plants along a new 2.7-kilometer riverside path in Yangpu, which will open to the public for the art season exhibition.

Artists must avoid damaging the concrete site and no piling is allowed for art installation. Weight limits have been stipulated for each position.

All the solicited designs will be evaluated by Fram Kitagawa, artistic director of the exhibition, and an expert panel. The winners will win 100,000-yuan (US$14,535) each.

The five spots for the installations include the Shipyard Fabrication Dock, the former wielding platform of the Shanghai Shipyard, one of the city’s oldest shipyards dating back to 1900. The concrete-paved square is embedded with a historical bronze grid.

The second spot, the Water Plant Trestle Bridge, is beside the historical Yangshupu Water Plant, which was built in 1883 and is still supplying water to a quarter of downtown residents. The site is a 46-meter-long and 12-meter-wide timber-paving platform in the middle of the trestle bridge beside the water plant.

The third spot, named Ecological Hills, was originally a tobacco factory’s mechanic warehouse. The former site of the warehouse is being transformed into a greenbelt and will be completed by the end of July.

The fourth spot, the Soap Company Dock, is a 47-meter-long and 32-meter-wide dock in the peripheral area of the former Shanghai Soap Company’s flood-control wall. The soap company, established in 1923, is the only national class-A enterprise for soap manufacturing. The dock was built by the company to transport raw materials and ship products.

The historical building of the soap company has been transformed into a cafe. The dock to be adorned with the artwork is expected to become a leisure place for pedestrians, organizers said.

From gas to art

The last site, titled Gas Plant Waterfront Lawn, is at the former locale of the famous Yangshupu Gas Plant, built in the 1930s. It was the biggest gas plant in East Asia until the end of the 20th century. Now it has been transformed into a public and riverfront space.

Artists are required to send paper documents to No. 1102 Vanke Center Riverside at 118 Minsheng Road in the Pudong New Area. Detailed information is available on the official website of the art season (www.susas.com.cn), with English-language option.

Participants can apply to meet with artistic director Kitagawa and visit the five spots on July 26 through the official website.

Entitled “Encounter,” the exhibition aims to highlight the global issue of how waterfronts can be brought back to life, according to Kitagawa.

The theme of the exhibition originated from a blueprint released by the city’s urban planning authority for its waterfront development, said Wang Xunguo, deputy director with the urban planning bureau.

Global artists will create about 20 sculptures or art installations along the riverside on the “waterfront space” theme. The five winners will be showcased along with the sculptures.

The original site of Shanghai Shipyard in Yangpu will open to the public for the first time along with a nearby century-old textile warehouse for the two-month exhibition. The relocation of Shanghai Shipyard has left a large number of facilities, such as two major shipyards and crane towers.




 

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