In the 1930s, Shao Xunmei named this place huating, and it became a renowned cultural salon in Shanghai. By reopening the event, we do not seek to revive the French salon that Xu Zhongnian considered as a model, but to create a venue in Shanghai’s contemporary art for performance lectures and themed talks, merging live performance and knowledge production, rearranging information links on a linear timeline, and opening up the potential space between speakers and audience.

We do not attempt to define a performance lecture; rather, we revolve around its permeability and presence, just like the imagery of a vortex, which is always about getting involved or being involved; yet the exchange, dispersion, and convergence in a vortex are always related to intensity, and serve as the incipit of currents, turbulences, and waves. We will focus more on diverse and heterogeneous materials, allowing scholars, artists, curators, writers, and performers from various regions and backgrounds to relate to and present themselves to each other.

Vortex is a long-term project. We will update the content of performance lectures by artists and talks by experts both on- and offline. Following the fundamental approach of connecting local practice, theories, and context, we hope that this nonstandard art venue will become a place of torrents, flux, and confluence.Vortex is a long-term project. We will update the content of performance lectures by artists and talks by experts both on- and offline. Following the fundamental approach of connecting local practice, theories, and context, we hope that this nonstandard art venue will become a place of torrents, flux, and confluence.

About the Project Curator

Born in 1967 in Shanghai, China, Jin Feng is a multi-media artist who graduated from China Textile University in Shanghai (now Donghua University) in 1991 with a degree in Arts and Crafts. He also holds an MFA in Visual Arts (2012) from Shanghai Theatre Academy. Since 2000, Jin has been closely involved in contemporary art activities and exhibitions initiated by the artist community in Shanghai. A co-founder of Future Festival and Jiangnan Stack, he is also one of the producers behind Powcast, a podcast on contemporary art. Jin also served as the chief advisor of “Superfluid,” a project by students of Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts in “an Ecosystem of Alliances,” the second phase of the Shanghai Biennale 2021 which invited local art institutions to participate.