Hot Asian art served Italian style

And the Chinese art market is moving rapidly. With more and more people being attracted by Chinese art, a new art consumer society has formed. And young Chinese artists showcased at the exhibition are expressing their feelings about the rapidly changing world around them.

Italy is famous in contemporary art and Shanghai hopes to be a city for the arts.

"Lively with business people and some of the best artists' neighborhoods, Shanghai is an interesting place to start. It has a great capacity to adapt to global ideas, especially in the art world," says Ambassador Umberto Vattani, president of Italian Trade Commission-ICE. "The fair adds important facets to the city, underlining its mission in the field of art. Collectors and gallery owners from all over the world gather here and I have heard many positive comments. Italy has done a good job here."

Vattani calls art "a powerful instrument" to reduce distance and bring people closer. "Art has always been a mirror of society. Even with the lack of language, it makes people understand each other through images or events. One can see the changes through artists' eyes."

One highlight is the 50 drawings by film director Federico Fellini. Themed "The Long Journey of Fellini. Dreams, Drawings, Films," the exhibition is presented by the Emilia-Romagna Region.

"Many of his characters were drawn on paper before becoming cinematic characters," Vattani says. "Fellini is a genius, feeling things that most people may miss. Bringing a revolution in film, he creates wonderful characters and music in his movie."

ShContemporary 2007 promotes emerging talented artists.

Besides the "Best of Artists" section, which presents works of famous Asian artists, "Best of Discovery" section gives a new generation of Asia-Pacific artists the opportunity to show their works on the international art stage for the first time.

"It is a try. It is unnecessary that each work must from well-known artists," Vattani says. "It is difficult to say who are the masters and we need some time to tell. But one can say what is new or not new, novelty or not novelty, creative or not creative."

From the time of Marco Polo, there has always been economic and cultural exchange between China and Italy. Last year was the Year of Italy in China, this year's ShContemporary is another step in the friendship.

"Chinese art market is moving rapidly. With more and more people being attracted by Chinese art, a new consumption society has formed. Perhaps we can look on Chinese contemporary art as the mirror of a rapidly changing environment," Vattani says.

He says that art, however, is not a passive recorder of social or historical situations. "Today's up and coming artists from China have largely freed themselves from the shackles of convention, offering new and original interpretations of their world," he says.

"Looking at Chinese art today gives us an insight into how young Chinese artists think and feel, and this, I think, is the true communicative strength of this unprecedented exhibition."

ShContemporary 2007
Date: through September 9, 10am-6pm
Address: 1000 Yan'an Zhonglu