Fotografiska unveils digital art show 'Old White Swan'

A virtual metropolis built from memory and imagination is docking in Shanghai.

Though September 7, Fotografiska Shanghai is presenting Too Rich City: The Old White Swan Passenger, the newest digital art exhibition by acclaimed Chinese artist Huang Heshan.

Blending nostalgia and speculative futurism, the show invites visitors to go on a poetic, mixed-reality (MR) voyage through a city that exists somewhere between simulation and sentiment.

At the heart of the narrative is the Old White Swan, a vintage pleasure boat embarking on its final journey after the demolition of Zhongshan Park.

Onboard is a sculpted goddess named Jingyue – its last passenger – who guides visitors through surreal cyber-cityscapes built on virtual logic. As guests navigate this dreamlike city, they are gently transported back to the park's very first day, completing a reflective, time-bending loop.

Huang, a standout figure in China's digital art world, is known for using pixel-by-pixel precision to create "Plastic Punk" worlds rooted in urban village culture. With his latest work, he deepens this vision, deconstructing and remixing real-world cultural markers into a new reality shaped by both code and collective memory.

Combining 4K visuals and spatial audio with Apple Vision Pro MR technology, Too Rich City transforms visitors from spectators into active participants in a philosophical exploration of place, loss, and digital rebirth.

This is more than an art show – it's a lucid dream that brings virtual architecture and urban nostalgia into tactile conversation.

Date: May 9-September 7, 10:30am-11pm (Closed on Mondays)

Venue: Fotografiska Shanghai | Fotografiska影像艺术中心

Address: 127 Guangfu Rd 光复路127号

Admission: 120 yuan (US$16.73)