The 11th Shanghai Biennale
Why Not Ask Again? Arguments, Counter-arguments and Stories
curators: Raqs Media Collective
Power Station of Art, 200 Huayuangang Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Artists: Agan Harahap, Aki Sasamoto, Anawana Haloba, Ayesha Jatoi, Ayodamola Tanimowo Okunseinde& Salome Asega, Azadeh Akhlaghi, Bahar Behbahani, Bianca Baldi, Cell Art Group, Chen Zhe, Christian Thompson, Christine Sun Kim, Desire Machine Collective, Etel Adnan, Fabrice Monteiro, Farzana Ahmed Urmi, Forensic Oceanography, Gagandeep Singh, Georges Adéagbo, Graham Harwood/YoHa, Ha Bik Chuen, HaoJingban, Heidi Voet, Hu Xiangqian, IstvánZsíros, Jagdeep Raina, Jefferson Pinder, John Gerrard, Karl Max, Kendell Geers, Khaled Barakeh, LantianXie, Lee Mingwei, Lena Zubtsova, Liao Fei, CANTONBON, Lin Ke, Phuong Linh Nguyen, Lisa Tan, Liu Wei, Liu Yujia, Lu Pingyuan, Ma Haijiao, Mao Chenyu, Marina Androsovich, Matts Leiderstam, Moinak Biswas, Müge Yilmaz, Nabuqi, Navjot Altaf, Nicholas Wells, Nikolaus Hirsch/Michel Müller, Olivier de Sagazan, Olu Oguibe, Patty Chang, Peter Piller, Rabin Mondal, Radical Space, Rafiqul Shuvo, Rheim Alkadhi, Robin Meier, Ross Manning, Sammy Baloji, Sener Özmen, Simone Fattal, Sofya Staune, Sohrab Hura, Sun Yuan & Peng Yu, SUPERFLEX, Surabhi Sharma &Tejaswini Niranjana, Susanne Kriemann, Takashi Arai, Tao Hui, Taus Makhacheva, Theo Eshetu, Tomás Saraceno, Verina Gfader, Vinu V.V., Vishal K. Dar, Wang Gongxin, Wang Haichuan, Yang Zhenzhong, Yazan Khalili, Yin Yi, Yu Ji, Zheng Bo, Zheng Chongbin, Zhou Zixi.
The 11th edition of the Shanghai event emphasizes the possibilities of South-South dialogue within the current scenario of a highly interconnected world. In doing so, it seeks to present artistic and discursive visions that go beyond and challenge the conventional division of the world between ‘East’ and ‘West’. Raqs Media Collective, who straddle diverse roles in creative and curatorial work and research processes, envisage the biennale to be a destination for many different kinds of exploration and investigation as well as a launching pad for new visions and ideas.
“Why not ask again? Why not begin at the beginning, or the end, or the middle of a question, or a desire (because the task of ‘asking’ can stand both for the posing of a question as well as for the awakening of a desire)?”
This phrase, inspired by Raqs Media Collective’s reading of the Indian New Cinema movement pioneer RitwikGhatak’s film Jukti, Takko Ar Gappo (Maneuvers, Disputations and Stories) [1974] anchors the curatorial design of the forthcoming Shanghai Biennale. Towards the end of Ghatak’s film, the protagonist, an alcoholic intellectual, falls in with a band of fugitive peasant and student rebels.