September 29–November 20, 2022
The fifth iteration of Rockbund Art Museum’s (RAM) yearly program RAM Highlights: The Good Life will take place from September 29 to November 20, 2022. (tgl). This year’s RAM Highlights will extend beyond RAM’s physical space to two more significant Bund structures, namely the Ampire & Co. building and the ZA Andrews & George building, both of which are within one block of the museum.
TGL, which was developed during Shanghai’s spring shutdown, aims to reexamine the sociality of art institutions and their interactions with various populations. The idea of “the good life” is not new; rather, it is overused and maybe out of date. However, the prolonged lockdown has forced many to reevaluate and contemplate it. This year’s RAM Highlights seeks to stimulate conversations with many communities and inspire fresh narratives of what a “contemplative, productive, or otherwise satisfactory life” is by challenging the usefulness of this hazy word in modern rituals, daily practices, and social theories.
Participants of tgl include artists, designers, scholars, writers, poets, dancers, musicians, and chefs. Apart from local participants, we also invite practitioners from 16 other localities. According to X Zhu-Nowell, chief curator of the program, “Participants question the integrity of ‘the good life’ from culturally and geographically divergent points of view. No two works will engage exactly the same visions, assumptions, or critiques about what ‘the good life is, [or where it’s located], grounding the vague, socio-democratic promises often associated with this idea to specific ethical and economic cross-currents, which flow, frenetically or systemically, at this moment in history.”
Unlike previous editions, RAM Highlights 2022: The Good Life is divided into two parts: installations and happenings. Ampire & Co. building will mainly stage installations, and happenings will take place primarily on the first floor of ZA—Andrews & George building.The Good Life is organized by X Zhu-Nowell, with the support of Xu Tiantian, Curator and Karen Wang, Curatorial Assistant, and Wang Chao, Senior Exhibition Specialist. Happenings is co-curated by Xu Tiantian and Zheng Peihan, Education Manager, with the assistance of Karen Wang and Yu Liaochang, Education Specialist.
16 installations will show themselves through various angles and methods in 16 chapters spread throughout the structures. Throughout 30 activities, including performances, seminars, and talks, will be held over the course of the program’s seven weeks. The handbook served as the main source of guidance for RAM as it created a number of distinctive watching experiences for the audience. Daily guided tours will also be offered, with an emphasis on tgl and the Bund’s architectural histories. Every Friday, the RAM team will host the Walk and Talk series with invited academics. Every Friday, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., the museum will be open later as part of the Night @ RAM event.
Participants
_ao_ao_ing ensemble, 44 Monthly, Adrián Villar-Rojas, BallaD, Dong Longyue, Every Ocean Hughes, Farah Al Qasimi, Fong Fo, Frederick Cruz Nowell, Goutam Ghosh, Heman Chong, Hugh Hayden, Hu Jiayi, Irena Haiduk, Jason Havneraas, Jonathas de Andrade, Khek Dhang Ke, L-square Performing Arts (Lian Guodong and Lei Yan), Li Shuang, littlecub, NZTT Sewing Co-op, OO ZONE, Saodat Ismailova, Sun Xun, Xu Zhe
Rockbund Art Museum
No.20 Huqiu Road
Shanghai
China