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Canadian Art

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Shanghai Kaleidoscope: Global China and the 21st Century

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto May 4 to Nov 2 2008
Yang Zhenzhong  <i>Let’s Puff</i>  2002  Installation view  Courtesy of the artist and the Haudenschild Collection
Yang Zhenzhong Let’s Puff 2002 Installation view Courtesy of the artist and the Haudenschild Collection

Yang Zhenzhong Let’s Puff 2002 Installation view Courtesy of the artist and the Haudenschild Collection



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Two shows at the Royal Ontario Museum bring us up to date on the past, present and future of the dominant cultural engine in China, the city of Shanghai.

A seaport defined in the 19th century by corruption, casinos and the opium trade during the height of European imperialism, Shanghai is now a laboratory for 21st-century urban design. At the ROM’s Institute for Contemporary Culture, “Shanghai Kaleidoscope” focuses on four key aspects of its new cultural life: art, fashion, urban design and architecture.

A fascinating complement to this contemporary overview is “Shanghai 1860–1949,” a selection of 80 historical images that tell the story of the city from its opening to the West to its mid-century revolutions. It runs in the ROM’s Herman Herzog Levy Gallery until October 26. (100 Queen’s Park, Toronto ON)

This article was first published online on May 8, 2008.

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