Modern art on display along Suzhou Creek, Huangpu River

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Visitors at the M50 art park

A major contemporary art week will be launched on November 11 with more than a dozen art exhibitions at three cultural landmarks along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek.

The first M50 Shanghai Contemporary Art Week to run through to November 15 will include 18 art exhibitions at the M50 Art Park in Putuo District, West Bund Art & Design in Xuhui and the Jing’an Sculpture Park.

Six “art buses” at the M50 will shuttle visitors between the three landmark art venues during the week. Eight workshops for local artists will also open to the public for the first time.

The event aims to drive the recovery of China’s contemporary art sector after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zhou Bin, general manager of the M50 Culture and Innovation Co, said as a result of current economic conditions, buyers are focused on investment value and the value-added space of artwork.

The art park will introduce fashion art with higher commercial values and cultivate young fashion artists, while developing exhibitions, events and innovative products, said Zhou.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: An artist introduces his paintings to visitors at the M50.

As a key exhibitor, young artist Xue Feng from Hangzhou, in neighboring Zhejiang Province, unveiled an art installation in cooperation with Mercedes Benz at the M50 park.

The first guest artist invited to the park after the pandemic aims to further boost cultural and art exchange, interactivity and trade in the Yangtze River Delta region.

“The integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta can start from art communications,” said Xue.

A forum on contemporary art and urban renewal was held between M50 and Sotheby's.

Famous artists including Karen Smith, Lorenz Helbling and Shi Yong, shared opinions with a professor from the China Academy of Art and an official with the auction house.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Visitors view an exhibition at the M50.

Since the M50 Art Park was created at the turn of the millennium, more than150 galleries and art institutes have chosen to make it their home.

On Moganshan Road in Putuo, M50 was one of the first and most notable cases of industrial heritage being given new life as a cultural agglomeration.

The site, covering 24,000 square meters along the Suzhou Creek, contains 50 buildings that were once home to the New China Textile Co, an iconic enterprise of the city’s industrial development. It is one of the best preserved industrial sites downtown.

New street art on walls, corridors, street corners and parking spaces have been created across the park to reignite an enthusiasm for the location and call new attention to fashion art.