From September 13 to September 22, 2019, Rockbund Art Museum will host its special annual program RAM HIGHLIGHT 2019: Before the Whistle Blows, curated by Hsieh Feng-Rong, Senior Curator of the Rockbund Art Museum. From the light in daybreak to the neon in deep night, from historical memories to moments of the everyday, the rhythms of nine artists or collectives will intertwine and overlap one another within the museum space, as sentiments and backgrounds that are worlds apart will sound together in resonance.

The fourth installation of RAM HIGHLIGHT, Before the Whistle Blows, continues the “use of performance as a means” in the planning of the program, commissioning as well as supporting artists in the creation of completely new works, in order to facilitate existing artistic practices which do not conform to any current art genre. The program will comprise of multiple art forms such as video, photography, 360-degree virtual reality installations, song and dance performances, chanting rituals, durational performances, and a bar for chatting. RAM HIGHLIGHT aims to go beyond the boundaries of traditional exhibition-making, to reconstruct the relationship between the viewer and art. In the duration of the program, the museum will also invite interaction with visitors through educational events such as symposiums and post-performance talks. As such, museum visitors will have the opportunity to converse with artists after performances, and to partake in deeper discussion and understanding.

“Before the Whistle Blows” gives us a sense of time; however, it is an indefinite sense of time. We do not know whether it is the start or the end when the whistle blows, but does it matter? What is more important is the period of waiting, before everything starts/ends. At this moment, time is extended, and we can clearly feel the complex emotions, which can be excited, angry, happy, sad, numb, fear, warm, passionate… The world is still fast spinning in this era of chaos, misinformation and disintegration, and we desperately need a moment to stop and watch the changes in the flow of time while examining ourselves. —Hsieh Feng-Rong

About the exhibition

Dates: Sep 13, 2019 – Sep 22, 2019

Curator: Hsieh Feng-Rong

Artists: Dai Chenlian, Ho Tzu Nyen, IsLand Bar, Christian Jankowski, Lee Kit, River Lin, Senyawa, Wu Meng, Yang Yuanyuan, Zhao Chuan

Venue: Rockbund Art Museum

Address: 20 Huqiu Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai

Courtesy of the artists and Rockbund Art Museum, for further information please visit www.rockbundartmuseum.org.