Once an industrial wasteland, Xuhui District’s riverside promenade has been radically transformed over the past decade into a one-stop art spot. Step out to the West Bund Corridor, host to forward-leaning art and culture spaces.
Start at the staggering Fenggu Road-situ’d Yuz Museum, a series of gigantic aeroplane hangars turned glassy art gallery, that’s decisively marked out Shanghai’s place on the global art landscape. Drift south along Longteng Avenue to the small but innovatively formed Shanghai Centre of Photography (SCoP for short) at #2555, a pleasing hybrid of gallery and museum for contemporary and archival snapshots. Doing what it says on the tin right next door, the West Bund ArtCenter is a former aircraft factory turned hub for arts and fashion events. Sibling to ShanghART Gallery at M50 (currently under renovation) and tucked right behind the WBAD, ShanghART is one of China’s first contemporary art galleries showcasing an oft-updated selection of the country’s most relevant artists; next up is Qiao Zhibing’s vast cultural hub TANK Shanghai, made from five huge disused oil tanks (#2350 Longteng Ave), which opened March 2019. Now either lace up your trainers or pop in a cab for the northbound hike to the not-to- be-missed Long Museum West Bund, a privately owned collection put together by Liu Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei.
For more detailed art listings with maps…
