Date: Oct 01, 2012 - Mar 31, 2013

Venue: Power Station of Art

Shanghai's new contemporary art museum, the Power Station of Art, opens on October 1 with the 9th Shanghai Biennale art festival appropriately titled "Reactivation." It runs through March 31, 2013.

It replaces the old Shanghai Art Museum as the biennale's venue near People's Park. Many art lovers are nostalgic for the old colonial-era horse racing club and its historic ambience.

After a half year of renovation, the space now covers nearly 41,200 square-meters with 12 exhibition halls and fills the void in the city for a major contemporary art museum.

The enormous size allows enormous-sized works and installations to be exhibited.

Around 98 artists from 27 countries and regions will participate the biennale and some pieces are daunting.

Examples of super-sized art include the 18-meter high "Transformer"-like installation "Infinity Column" created by Chinese artist Ouyang Chun and the "Thousand-hands Bodhisattva," a tower of iron fingers created by Chinese artist Huang Yongping.

Apart from the Power Station of Art, the biennale will feature satellite projects and exhibitions. One is "Rescue: Shanghai Ark," an exhibition of photos of Shanghai taken by Jewish refugees in World War II and paintings by a Jewish artist, showing how people survive in disasters by supporting each other. During World War II, Shanghai opened its doors to Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in Germany and other countries. Most other countries refused to accept them.

More than 30,000 people fled to Shanghai. This exhibition in the Republic section is a tribute to Shanghai.

Check the official website: http://www.shanghaibiennale.org/en/