SHANGHAI.- PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai (September 21 - 23, 2018) today announces that it will mark its fifth anniversary with a five-part Public Program. This will include curated exhibition platforms of groundbreaking contemporary Asian art - Staged, Connected, Spotlight, Insights - and the fair’s Conversations series. Together these five highlights will create the Fair’s most thought-provoking and contemporary Public Program yet.

Highlights in the 2018 Public Program include; a critically acclaimed exhibition by Hiroshi Sugimoto; talks by leading artists including VALIE EXPORT (Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Paris & London), Chen Chieh-Jen (Long March Space, Beijing) and Hong Hao (Pace Gallery, New York, Palo Alto, London, Paris, Seoul & Beijing) and a collaboration with international curator, Victor Wang (王宗孚).

Georgia Griffiths, Group Fair Director said: "PHOTOFAIRS' ongoing mission is to present cutting-edge artwork and this is mirrored by our public program in site-specific installations, new technology, moving image and artists' talks. I'm particularly excited about the range of practices that are on display - from established artists reflecting on their work through to the new section, Connected. Visitors will have a myriad of opportunities to experience a variety of contemporary photography practices.”

Widely regarded as Asia Pacific’s leading destination to discover and collect photography, PHOTOFAIRS’ 50 galleries and public program will provide a stimulating and seamless insight into photography pushing its limits. PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai will return to the Shanghai Exhibition Center from September 21-23, 2018, with Presenting Partner Porsche.

New works commissioned for Staged
PHOTOFAIRS’ Staged exhibition platform explores the relationship between photography and other art forms such as installation art, sculpture, video and painting. Placed throughout the Fair space, this year’s Staged will feature four politically and emotionally-charged works that reflect on contemporary Asian society. They are:

● A new, large-scale work by Chinese artist Cai Dongdong (One Way Art Gallery, Beijing). The Thousand Face Door and The Theft (2018) will take the form of a traditional, freestanding Chinese doorway. On a hanging curtain, beads are replaced by Chinese identity cards, fusing together traditional Chinese imagery with contemporary social concerns.

● A new site specific installation by Korean artist SeungWoo Back (Gana Art, Seoul & SUUM Projects, Seoul), which will stand at the entrance of the fair. Reworked from his original, celebrated series Utopia (2008) the work visually echoes Communist era architecture and meditates on the complexities of the current political situation between North Korea, South Korea and China.

● Realm of Reverberations: Tree Planter (2014) by Taiwanese artist Chen Chieh-Jen (Long March Space Beijing) will be screened twice daily. The film takes viewers to the remains of Taipei's Lo-Sheng Sanatorium, an abandoned leprosy hospital, and explores the histories and stories around its spaces.

● The Water-Grass Network of IT Specialists (2017) by Korean artist Won Seoung Won (Arario Gallery, Seoul & Shanghai) will be exhibited in the Fair’s VIP lounge. This series consists of eight panels of digitally-manipulated, imaginary landscapes that show the artist’s imaginative interpretation of individuals as ‘psychological portraits’.

Video art given dedicated platform in Connected exhibition
PHOTOFAIRS’ Connected film program, showcases the breadth of subject matter and technique being explored in the medium by artists from around the world. Pioneered at PHOTOFAIRS | San Francisco in 2017, this year’s launch in Shanghai will feature video works presented by cultural partners:

● Videotage (Hong Kong) with a Hong Kong-focused presentation featuring artists Joseph Chen and Simon Liu.

● Video Bureau (Beijing & Guangzhou) with a dual presentation of works by Chen Qiulin and Miao Xiaochun.

● HOW Art Museum (Shanghai) with a presentation by Leandro Erlich.

● NOWNESS (Shanghai) with a presentation of artists in focus featuring Wolfgang Tillmans, Wim Wenders and Petra Collins, amongst others.

Spotlight - China debut for Gates of Paradise series by Hiroshi Sugimoto
The Spotlight exhibition platform focuses on a single artist of international renown and importance in the contemporary photography sphere. This year the Fair will present Hiroshi Sugimoto | Gates of Paradise, an exhibition of large-scale, silver gelatin prints that will be shown in China for the first time.

Celebrated Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto (b.1948) has worked in photography since the 1970s. His work often investigates the themes of temporal existence, history, empiricism, and metaphysics. Gates of Paradise charts the journey of the “Tenshō embassy”; four young Japanese Catholics, who were sent to the courts and palaces of Europe in the late 16th century during the first major cultural, religious and political exchanges between East and West. Sugimoto’s series retraces the embassy’s steps, visiting sites such as the Duomo in Florence, the Pantheon in Rome and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, drawing our attention to the centuries-old process of cultural exchange.

Sugimoto’s exhibition is part of a strong selection of Japanese art that will be exhibited at this year’s Fair. This includes leading Japanese galleries art space AM (Tokyo), rin art association (Takasaki) and Taka Ishii Gallery (Tokyo & New York) and international and Chinese galleries presenting Japanese artists including Ryusuke Kido (Christine Park Gallery, London & New York), Aki Lumi and Yuki Onodera (Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai) and Daido Moriyama (see + gallery, Beijing).

All Spotlight artworks are courtesy of Galleria Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing, Les Moulins, Habana).

International curators and artists lined up for Conversations
The Fair will offer an extensive program of public talks featuring in-depth discussions with artists, curators, collectors and industry leaders including:

● Panel discussions with curators Zoe Zhang Liqi (Deputy Director, HOW Art Museum), Claire Shea (Deputy Director, Para-site), Thomas Dukes (Curator, Open Eye Liverpool) and artists Hong Hao (Pace Gallery, New York, Palo Alto, London, Paris, Seoul & Beijing), Birdhead (ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai, Beijing & Singapore), Kelvin Kyung Kun Park (Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai) and Isaac Leung (Videotage).

● Artist Talks by VALIE EXPORT (Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Paris & London), Cai Dongdong (One Way Art Gallery, Beijing), Hai Bo (Pace Gallery, New York, Palo Alto, London, Paris, Seoul & Beijing), SeungWoo Back (Gana Art, Seoul & SUUM Projects, Seoul) and Chen Chieh-Jen (Long March Space, Beijing), who will offer insight into their practises.

Insights - Full artists’ list announced
The fair’s Insights exhibition platform, powered by Patek Philippe, completes the 2018 public program. Victor Wang (王宗孚) realizes a reimagining of the seminal 1999 exhibition “The Same But Also Changed (物是人非)”, featuring works by the original participants Chen Xiaoyun, Geng Jianyi, Hu Jieming, Liang Yue, Xiang Liqing, Yang Zhenzhong, Yang Fudong, Liu Wei and Xu Zhen. These will be presented alongside a new generation of artists: Chen Zhe, Yang Yuanyuan, Fan Xi, Ma Qiusha, Miao Ying and Shi Zheng.

A selection of the world’s best galleries announced for 2018
PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai offers collectors access to the world’s leading galleries including returning supporters ShanghART Gallery (Shanghai, Beijing & Singapore), Taka Ishii Gallery (Tokyo & New York), Pékin Fine Arts (Beijing & Hong Kong), Blindspot (Hong Kong) and Pace Gallery (New York, Palo Alto, London, Paris, Seoul & Beijing), amongst others; and major newcomers including Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (Salzburg, Paris & London), König Galerie (Berlin & London), Galleria Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing, Les Moulins, Habana) and 10 Chancery Lane (Hong Kong), amongst others.