How often is the Shanghai Biennale, the highest-profile contemporary art event in China, arranged?

The Shanghai Biennale is the highest-profile contemporary art event in Shanghai and the most established art biennale in China. Initially held in the Shanghai Art Museum, from 2012 on it has been hosted in Power Station of Art, the first state-run museum dedicated to contemporary art in mainland China. Shanghai Biennale gives artists the occasion to meet and exchange ideas about their works, projects, inspirations and experiences, and offers the chance to reunite curators, writers and art supporters from all over the world in order to create a space of dialogue on the international art market.

Launched in 1996, Shanghai Biennale has been hosted in the Shanghai Art Museum for eight editions before switching to Power Station of Art. It is arranged each couple of years with a different theme and a lot of activities and events taking place in the museum as well as in the most important landmarks of the city. The first edition of Shanghai (Fine Art) Biennale was approved by the Ministry of Culture and Shanghai Municipal Administration and lasted from March 18 to April 7, 1996. Its theme was named “Open Space” in order to highlight the new opening of the country towards the development of many cultural fields. This edition was attended by 29 artists and displayed a total of 160 artworks including sculptures, installations, video art products and paintings.