The Shanghai Biennale has always taken the city itself as its primary focus. It gathers the most talented and cutting-edge international curators and artists at the pinnacle of the industry, and explores the ultimate connection between urban life, contemporary art and the public. It has also become a large-scale platform in Shanghai for the exchange and exhibition of contemporary artworks.

The residents make a city animated. If you want to know the city deeply, it is essential to meet the locals. Curated by chief curator Raqs Media Collective, the project “51 Personae” explores the possibilities of everyday life and adds to the biennale the poetry of life. Three programmes, each featuring a Shanghai "figure", will be presented in the city every week over the duration of the biennale.

Curated by chief curator Raqs Media Collective, the project '51 Personae' explores the possibilities of everyday life and adds to the biennale the poetry of life.

“The project will get started with 51 different activities which had been designed by 51 individuals, and all of the activities are based on different experiences. I hope audiences could deeply know this city and find themselves through the project,” said Chen Yun, 51 Personae Coordinator.      

The 51 stories deal with 51 different aspects of life. If you like, the organizers will take you to meet the Weiqi enthusiasts in the park; to follow the express delivery person to find out how the delivery fees are cheaper than a subway ticket; and, if you are interested in the “new Shanghainese,” who was born in South India, the printmaking artist will tell you about her life.

“The project has successfully attracted a lot of individuals from different social classes, and the project has cleverly combined the ideas of contemporary art with audiences’ consciousness and ideology,” said Ding Yi, artist.