Shenzhen. A city with a population of ten million, that was little more than a fishing village less than thirty years ago. Unsurprisingly, this is a place where development has speeded on at a rapid, record braking pace. An ideal setting then, for an exhibition that explores urbanism and architecture. China’s first ‘Special Economic Zone’ was founded as an experiment in capitalism, this location on Hong Kong’s doorstep chosen in hopes to ensure its success, and in this they were correct.

But success cannot be evaluated simply in monetary terms. The exhibition not only informs of the economic progress made, but also of the effects this has had on the land and on the people who live there. The once hilly fishing village has now given way to a downtown that is mostly flat. Skyscrapers compete to win awards for being the tallest. There are the familiar stories of rich people who have prospered on the dream while many migrant workers, who moved here with the promise of a better future, continue to live below the poverty line.

Perhaps most interesting was finding out differing opinions on what an ideal community may consist of. Low level workers are pushed out of the city into special areas for them to live together.

Because of their deteriorating and decaying appearance many ‘bad’ residential areas are being demolished, when in actual fact these places worked best for the people, and so successful communities are effectively destroyed.

Not only keeping the spotlight on Shenzhen, the Biennale went on to examine other big cities and metropolises throughout the world. This time it joined forces with Hong Kong, to create exhibitions on both sides of the border and looking even further out there were associated venues, exhibits and forums in Tokyo, Seoul, London and Los Angeles, as well as in a number of Chinese cities.

Focusing on the current location, we could still examine the world in a number of standout pieces to be found in Shenzhen. The whole of China was looked at, via the medium of one of the nation’s most popular games,

mahjong. The juxtaposition of appearance and the hardship of reality was portrayed in a video situated in a beach hut, which showed beautiful, seemingly middle eastern pop singers with the karaoke lyrics replaced by some thought provoking and rather more subversive subtitles. And our worldwide urban obsession with fashion was explored in a piece where people could bring their handbags to be signed and thus transformed from run of the mill to designer.

The Biennale was successful in attracting a range of people from the young to the old, the art elite

and the general public. It was easy to understand and dip in and out of, and an engaging subject matter for local residents and visitors alike. However, it was also a mixed bag in terms of presentation.

The exposition was split into five sections – architecture/urban planning, art exhibition, research on commission, interaction and public participation. The distinction of these themes was not clear. The approach didn’t always look professional, and at times the feeling was more of an interactive yet low budget family friendly museum than a gallery space. It seemed as though the curators weren’t sure how to balance the range of art, architecture and pure information and consequently it all ended up being a bit ramshackle. Perhaps the exhibition was too reliant on text rather than image; although explanation was necessary in many circumstances there ended up being an information overload, with far too much to read. Much of this would have been better consigned to the accompanying brochure. And it did seem strange that some of the texts were only presented in English when the national language of the country is Chinese.

Nevertheless, even including these pitfalls, this was a really engrossing and enjoyable show. It was obviously thoroughly researched, and strived to ask questions associated with what exactly constitutes a city, and be something that could constantly evolve and be explored, rather than something static. In this it reflected its theme of the ‘city of expiration and regeneration problem’. The idea is that the city is something organic, that can live outside the desires of planners and citizens, but therefore will also have an organic life cycle from youth to maturity to death.

The Biennale’s pitfalls didn’t seem to matter, because of its attitude – one of ‘continuous creation, continuous exploration as well as continuous moving forward’.

Review & Photography by Nathania Hartley
www.szhkbiennale.org