Urban hide-and-seek art adventure at THE INLET

Come to "Urban Adventure," a hide-and-seek art journey.

When stepping outside the Sichuan Road N. Metro Station, one might catch a glimpse of a pink panda bending over the outside window, as if peeping at the busy stream of passers-by from the underground.

Perhaps the panda is the first to introduce the exhibition "Urban Adventure," a public art exhibition currently under way at THE INLET, a new city landmark at the junction of Sichuan N. and Haining roads.

Ti Gong

THE INLET consists of 60 shikumen (stone-gate) buildings and eight detached mansions, most a century old.

However, in the past two decades, it seems the Sichuan Road area has been ignored by local trendsetters, despite the fact that literary giants, including Lu Xun (1881-1936), Qu Qiubai (1899-1935) and Guo Moruo (1892-1978), once lived in "the cradle of Shanghai culture," as it was previously known.

"That was the main reason for me to take over this special project," said Robin Wong, the exhibition's curator. "I have good memories of Sichuan Road, and I wanted to fuse some artistic flavor into it."

Supported by Art Pioneer Studio, the Young Boundless Creation Center, Liu Haisu Art Museum and Su Shanghai, the project is spearheaded by the Chongbang Group, developer of THE INLET.

"Different from the serious displays at many museums, the art here is not just a static work, but a multi-dimensional block that guides the public to experience the life of art and the art of life.

"Here, art does not belong to the artist or the owner, but rather, to the public. The meaning of a work of art comes from everyone's own understanding of how it is viewed," said Ruan Jun, vice director of Liu Haisu Art Museum.

But for Wong, this is a big project with a limited budget and tight schedule.

"You can't imagine how frequently I went to THE INLET to decide which public location to use and what kind of artwork could be put there," Wong said. "Shortly before the opening day of the exhibition, the whole team was working day and night, including the artists."

"Urban Adventure" features 21 renowned international and local contemporary artists, architects, designers, science-fiction writers and experts from a wide variety of disciplines, reflecting a potpourri of art in a setting of Shanghai's traditional shikumen buildings.

The exhibition, which is set to run through March 31, not only creates an urban art adventure, it also explores cultural memories of past Shanghai styles.

For visitors to this spatial art exhibition, it's best to get a map at the beginning of the journey, as the artworks are scattered around THE INLET – sometimes high above, sometimes inside the building and sometimes just around the corner.

However, they aren't randomly chosen or placed.

Ti Gong

According to Wong, the exhibition is divided into three chapters: Urban Forest, Amazing Maze and Next Heritage.

"City Forest focuses on human life and ecology. It infuses artworks that relate to animals, plants and ecosystems. Located mainly at the north entrance of THE INLET, these artworks aim to transform hasty urban life into a spiritual wonderland," he said.

The highlight of City Forest goes to "Elephoutain" created by Aldo Cibic. The sculpture is in a large ceramic fountain, and it interprets the theme of water in a joyful and poetic manner. The work pays tribute to the ancient tradition where water sources were expressed through the depiction of wild animals.

Five red, glazed elephant heads with big ears are endearingly cute, while the man-made green leaves planted over them provide a natural look.

The Amazing Maze section explores the memories of Shanghai's past in a contemporary context. Private and public spatial arrangements overlap in shikumen architecture, conjuring up a temporal dimension filled with traces of the past and present.

When unexpectedly opening one door of a building, visitors step into total darkness, save for a beam of light coming from upstairs. This is the installation titled "Cubic Light" created by Hao Jingfang and Wang Lingjie, a couple who "separate" space and everyone inside it with light.

Works in the last chapter "Next Heritage" echo the lifestyle in THE INLET, which integrates the aesthetics of technology, culture, the environment and travelling.

Julian Opie's "Headphones" stands out in this final section. Opie draws viewers' attention to the urban phenomena of public spaces, and the tension between individuality and anonymity typical of experiences in large cities with clear, simple forms and precise lines and coloring.

Ti Gong