It's getting hot in the city, so go and chill out
The temperature is rising as we head into summer. If you’re looking for cool places to go, The Guide has a wonderful list for you including unique exhibitions, exciting music performances and captivating drama shows. There’s plenty for all ages and all tastes. Go and enjoy this beautiful May. Joan Zheng and Sophie Wang show you the way.
Influential artist Boltanski opens first solo
★ Highlights: French artist Christian Boltanski holds his first solo in Shanghai
A solo exhibition of Christian Boltanski, a renowned French artist, is underway at the Power station of Art, featuring not only Boltanski’s most important works, but also a new project for this exhibition.
Born in 1944, Boltanski is one of the most eminent artists in Europe since the World War II, having a far-reaching impact on the development of contemporary art from Europe to Asia. He was a contributing artist to the French pavilion during the Venice Biennale in 2011.
The “storage Memory” exhibition aims to inspire emotional connections visually, aurally and psychologically through a series of installations, videos, sounds and shadow theaters. It includes about 10 tons of clothes, hundreds of pictures showing infant and elderly faces, as well as thou- sands of heartbeat recordings.
Date: Through July 8
Venue: Power Station of Art
Address: 200 Huayuangang Rd
Unfolding a unique vision of the universe
★ Highlights: Ryoichi Kurokawa’s is inspired by everyday life
The main theme of Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawa’s distinctive works is the relationship between nature and our world, prompting viewers to think deeply about the sounds and images of daily life.
An exhibition of his projects is underway at the shanghai Minsheng Art Museum through June 15.
His works often use geometrical shapes, pixels and the color tones of impressionism to create digital art.
Inspired by the latest research of astrophysics, Kurokawa recently created an immersive installation called “unfold,” which is the highlight of this exhibition.
“Unfold” represents nuclear fusion (the energy source of stars such as our sun), models the initial moment of a supernova explosion and portrays the formative process of a fixed star after sticking which our galaxy seems destined for in a few billion years.
Date: Through June 15
Venue: Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum
Address: 399 Bocheng Road
Canada’s Cook bringing flamenco to Modern Sky
★ Highlights: Canadian guitarist Jesse Cook will bring his first show to Shanghai
Jesse Cook, a Canadian guitarist, composer and producer, will bring his flamenco music to shanghai at the Modern sky lab next month.
Cook incorporates elements of flamenco rumba, jazz and many other forms of world music into his work. He is a Juno Award winner, Acoustic Guitar Player’s Choice Award silver winner in the Flamenco Category, and a three-time winner of the Canadian smooth Jazz Award for Guitarist of the Year. He has sold over 1.5 million records worldwide.
Date: May 20
Venue: Modern Sky Lab
Address: 188 Ruihong Rd
St Martin in the Fields performs
★ Highlights: Joshua Bell will lead the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in Shanghai
Joshua Bell, music director and virtuoso violinist, will lead the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in their first performance at the shanghai Concert Hall on May 27.
The academy is one of the world’s greatest chamber orchestras, renowned for fresh interpretations of great classical.Today the academy is led by Bell, retaining the collegiate spirit and flexibility of the original small, conductor-less ensemble — an academy hallmark.
With a career spanning more than 30 years as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and conductor, Bell is one of the most
celebrated violinists of his era.
Date: May 27
Venue: Shanghai Concert Hall
Address: 523 Yan’an Rd E.
'A Spiritual Matter’ in the mind of a lonely middle-aged woman
★ Highlights: a tribute to Swedish director Ingmar Bergman
The drama “A spiritual Matter,” adapted from a play of the same name by renowned Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, will be staged at the Daning Theater by the state small Theater of Vilnius on May 17.
The play tells the story of a woman in her 40s, Victoria, who has severe schizophrenia. It portrays a series of imaginary conversations she has with other people, such as her husband, friends, maid, father, strangers and also with herself, showing the inner thoughts of middleage woman.
Established in 1990 in lithuania, the state small Theater now has become a center of the cultural scene in that country.
Date: May 17
Venue: Daning Theater
Address: 1222 Pingxingguan Rd
What happened to that poor little doggie in the night?
★ Highlights: A play by Simon Stephens will astonish Shanghai audiences
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is a multi award-winning play about the mysterious death of a neighbor’s dog, and a boy named Christopher Boone, who has an autism spectrum condition.
Written by simon stephens and based on the novel of the same name by Mark Haddon, it will be performed at the shanghai Culture square next month.
During its premiere run, the play tied the record for winning the most Olivier Awards, including the Best New Play, at the 2013 awards ceremony.
The play reworked the novel by changing its voice and presenting the story as a play-within-a-play, telling the story of the young boy and the compassion of his school mentor.
Date: May 9-20
Venue: Shanghai Culture Square
Address: 597 Fuxing Rd M.
Alexandrinsky Theater to present ‘Hamlet’
★ Highlight: new version of a Shakespearean classic
The Russian Alexandrinsky Theater will perform Shakespeare’s “hamlet” at the Daning Theater on May 12 and 13.
In this new version, director Valery Fokin will use the format of prose poem to express this masterpiece.
“The Tragedy of hamlet, Prince of Denmark” tells the story of Prince hamlet’s revenge on his uncle, Claudius, after being recalled to Denmark from a school in Germany following his father’s murder.
Claudius had murdered his own brother and seized the throne, also marrying his brother’s widow.
The Alexandrinsky Theater in St Petersberg is the oldest Russian national theater, founded in 1756.
Date: May 12-13
Venue: Daning Theater
Address: 1222 Pingxingguan Rd
Travel the world with Thomas, without leaving home
★ Highlight: Thomas and his friends are coming
This May, Thomas and his friends have traveled from the wonderful Island of Sodor to The Place, and are inviting all little adventurous warriors to start an exciting trip around the world.
Through May 20, the “Traveling the World with Thomas” exhibition encourages children to explore the amazing world without going out of the country: Appreciate speed and passion through grass skating in the Brazilian rainforest; explore the egyptian pyramids; understand cultures and customs and explore the world in a rich interactive experience.
The first stop is the United States, where you will go car racing. Then it’s off to Brazil, warming up with a fun bowling competition before going grass skating through the forest and moving on to Egypt together with the little trains, where you can play with the sand and explore the mystery of the Pyramids.
Date: Through May 20
Venue: The Place
Address: 100 Zunyi Rd
Celebrating the ‘megastars’ of the past 60 years
★ Highlight: a festival of renowned singers and musicians
IFC Mall is holding a music festival timed for the Labor Day holiday to honor some of the world’s most renowned singers and musicians of the past 60 years — the so called “megastars.”
There are a vast collection of vinyls and cassette tapes by some of the best-known singers of the period. These include Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Madonna, elvis Presley, The Beatles and Adele.
Date: Through May 15
Venue: IFC mall
Address: 8 Century Ave
A marvelous time for Avengers fans
★ Highlight: an insight into the Avengers movie
This spring, the “Avengers: Infinity War” movie exhibition at the iapm shopping mall is a treat for diehard comic fans.
Fans will get a behind-the-scenes insight into the making of the movie, view hidden scenes and analyze other interpretations of scenes in the movie.
The space will also be set up with an array of 3D interactive Avengers-related activities.
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Marvel superhero movies, many different characters will also be present such as The hulk, Thor, Thanos and Captain America.
Date: Through May 17
Venue: iapm Mall
Address: 999 Huaihai Rd M.
