From its initiation in 2015, the Shanghai Project has been an experiment, a laboratory for testing the boundaries of existing assumptions, and for considering how ideas might expand beyond the confines of individual silos of knowledge. With each new chapter, the ever-unfolding structure develops further beyond the biennial format to which it first responded.
Through public programs, publications, screenings, exhibitions, open calls, and architectural commissions, the Shanghai Project continues to defy categorization. Each new chapter seeks to engage new methods and formats. Shanghai Project Chapter 1 focused on public programs and audience engagement through the completion of Sou Fujimoto’s Envision Pavilion, children’s programs, an open call for the post-1989 generation, and an intensive calendar of performances, talks, screenings, and events. Chapter 2 takes an exhibition as its central component, while the next chapters might venture into a book series, a program of lectures or something entirely new.
The Shanghai Project is organized by the Shanghai Himalayas Museum, co-organized by the Shanghai International Culture Association, with lead sponsors Envision Energy and Zendai Group.