Shanghai has become one of the fastest growing metropolitan hubs of the 21st century. It has become synonymous to Beijing as one of China’s cultural hubs and symbols. To truly become a cultural hub, a city must nurture art and this is where Shanghai’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) comes in.
Image from uchinatravel.com
Nestled right in the middle of People’s Park, the three-story building is built on what once used to be a greenhouse. The façade of the museum is an outer glass wall, remnants of the time when it used to be a different building altogether. To get to MoCA, all you need to do is find yourself in the middle of People’s Square and it will be a 5-minute walk from the center. Regular entrance fees are at 50RMB or at least 8 USD while for students, it comes for a discounted rate of 25RMB, $4.
On Sundays to Thursdays, operating hours are from 10AM to 6PM while they open early at 9AM and close at 7PM from Fridays to Saturdays. The first and second floor of the museum showcases the works of contemporary artists both local and international.
Image from expedia.com
The third floor is MoCA in the Park, a restaurant with a terrace which gives you a vantage point to the views of People’s Square. The restaurant operates at different times with the museum. A new space called Pavilion has recently been opened to the public.
The Pavilion will feature emerging artists and expect it to showcase various ideas in different art mediums. The museum also aims to educate adults and children and holds several lectures and workshops.
Image from artasiapacific.com
There are no permanent installations in the museum instead you need to think of it as a very fluid gallery that caters to the best forms of contemporary art. Some events in themselves will have a separate entrance fee. Events can be held one time or can go as long as several months.
For example, MoCA’s recent offering is the 6th Animamix Biennale – Ballade, which explores the genre of animation, games, and comics runs from May 30th until August 28th. It has an entrance fee of 80 RMB. Previous events have included silent disco, eco-fashion workshops, murals, and fashion exhibitions. The events and installations in MoCA are as diverse as the whole portfolio of what contemporary art is.
MoCA also collaborates with other museums and foundations to support artists from all over the globe. For the visitor, this means that every time you visit the museum you are definitely in for another experience.
If you find yourself in Shanghai, make sure to stop by MoCA and appreciate contemporary art in all its forms. There is nothing quite like art to help you understand a city’s soul. Because in a city like Shanghai, which is in the process of blending its old traditions with the new, a place is needed to point the traveler to where this metropolis are heading. MoCA does that by showing you what contemporary art is.
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( All images found in google image search and I added images source with the website name. These images are not mine. if there have any false details in this article , please accept my apologies )