2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season

The 2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season took place from September 24 to November 20. Throughout this period, 20+ exhibition areas across the city delved into the theme of "Metrobiosis," exploring it through "multiple spaces, multiple scenes, and multiple dimensions." These exhibitions addressed pressing global issues, including the concept of the "community of all life" and the "harmonious coexistence of humans and nature.” The exhibition areas highlighted key ecological corridors in Shanghai, such as the "One River, One Belt" projects, and showcased the city's diverse urban and rural park systems, encompassing suburban parks, urban parks, and community green spaces. They also featured cutting-edge green and resilient development initiatives, including green buildings, low-carbon neighborhoods, low-carbon zones, and sponge cities. With a rich variety of exhibition types and content, the displays offered a dynamic array of experiences. The interdisciplinary curation brought together thematic exhibits, sustainable architectural installations, public artworks, and a range of citywide activities. The Art Season invited citizens into public spaces to witness Shanghai’s urban transformation, embrace a greener, more natural lifestyle, and take part in environmental conservation efforts. Ultimately, the goal was to help cultivate a culture that grounded in the values of coexistence and shared prosperity. During the two-month exhibition period, nearly 300+ public events were held in the various exhibition zones in the city, attracting nearly one million+ citizens online and offline. Our responsibilities: 2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season - Curation and Execution of Ecology Section.
Overview:
As the curatorial team for the ecological unit of the 2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, we sought to challenge the superficial use of “ecology” as a trending keyword and redefine it through scientific integrity, cultural depth, and experiential relevance. In partnership with The Nature Conservancy and collaborators across science, art, and academia, we designed a public engagement platform that transformed ecological awareness into ecological intelligence.
Challenge:
In today’s hyper-engineered urban planning, nature is often reduced to controlled, symbolic zones—parks, rivers, wetlands—physically and culturally disconnected from everyday life. Meanwhile, “ecology” is often misused as a sensory or aesthetic theme, detached from the urgent, real-world problems it represents. We faced the dual challenge of:
1. Reconnecting people emotionally and intellectually with nature in their urban environments.
2. Transforming passive environmental perception into active, self-sustaining behavior change rooted in systems thinking.
Strategic Approach:
We curated a living, participatory exhibition based on four core ecological elements—Wind, Soil, Water, and Creatures—selected not for their symbolism but for their scientific, functional, and ecological significance. Instead of designing an isolated exhibition, we created a geographical and experiential journey stretching from the source of the Three Rivers to the banks of the Huangpu River, culminating in the concept of “Naturespace Beyond Nature.” This was not an art spectacle—it was a provocation and prototype for urban ecological coexistence. By breaking down traditional boundaries between inside/outside, natural/artificial, and functional/aesthetic, we invited the public to reflect on ecology not as an abstract value but as a way of life, decision-making, and collective mindset. The entire curation emphasized human-nature relationship, indigenous wisdom and reflection, urbanization vs.climate resilience possibilities through lived experience and interaction.
Impact:
• Engaged over millions of citizens through immersive, multi-sensory experiences across physical and digital touchpoints.
• Hosted public events, workshops, and participatory installations that blurred the lines between art, science, and daily life.
• Garnered national media recognition and positioned the exhibition as a benchmark for future eco-urban initiatives.
• Influenced public discourse around ecological urbanism and demonstrated how interdisciplinary collaborations can serve as tools for cultural and environmental transformation.