Charting the culture of Shanghai

• Source: Global Times
• [10:32 July 14 2010]
• Comments

Copies of Art Map. Photo: Courtesy of Huang Mohan

Shanghai Detour is a bimonthly art map which is available at listed art venues, bars, restaurants, hotels, embassies and language schools.

It can be used as regular city map because one side has a bilingual map of the downtown area of Shanghai.

The other side lists the details of ongoing and upcoming exhibitions of contemporary art in Shanghai both in English and Chinese.

"I only do contemporary art," said Eike Stratmann, director of the Shanghai Detour.

When Stratmann came to Shanghai from Germany a year and a half ago, she searched through Shanghai to find interesting independent exhibitions and nonprofit showrooms which had, until that point, remained unknown.

"Shanghai really needs a map to help people find those hidden galleries," said Stratmann who took over the map in 2009.

Having worked on INDEX, one of the most respectable art maps in Berlin, she runs the project almost completely alone. "It's only me, a designer and a driver," said Stratmann.

With no translators on the team, the accuracy of the language is a serious problem for the "one-woman team."

"I know a little Chinese but usually galleries send me the information in both English and Chinese," Stratmann said.

The famous art zone M50 on Moganshan Road made one of the first art maps in Shanghai, Art In Shanghai.

In September 2007, Art In Shanghai was released as a full-sized map, but in 2009 it changed into a more portable pamphlet map.

The bimonthly pamphlet is run by the administrative team of M50, with the help from some gallery staff.

It includes a one-page map of M50, a map of Shanghai, one-page of listings for all of the galleries in the art zone as well as listings for local venues and exhibitions.

Benefiting from its platform, Art In Shanghai includes detailed introductions and carefully selected pictures from exhibitions shown in M50.

Supported by the administrative office of the art zone and some listed galleries, the pamphlet enjoys better funding than the other two maps.

Currently, Art In Shanghai is free for clients and visitors in the art zone.