SHANGHAI.- Today, on Monday 17 May, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima visited the Dutch Culture Centre in Shanghai, to see, amongst other things, the exhibition Double Infinity, a joint project of the Van Abbemuseum and Arthub Asia. The royal couple were taken round by Charles Esche, director of the Van Abbemuseum and Davide Quadrio, director of Arthub Asia. Rob van Gijzel, the mayor of Eindhoven, presented them with a special edition of the Double Infinity book. The Eindhoven artist John Körmeling, architect of Happy Street , the Dutch pavilion at the World Expo, and various Chinese artists, including Jin Shan and Xhou Ziahou, were also present for the tour.

In addition to Double Infinity, the royal couple also visited the other activities in the Dutch Culture Centre, such as a rehearsal of the Nederlands Dans Theater, an exhibition of Alexander van der Slobbe and an art project by students of the Willem de Kooning Academy and the Shanghai Normal University.

Double Infinity takes place parallel to the World Expo 2010 and is a collaborative encounter between a northwestern European art museum, the Van Abbemuseum, and an Asian art initiative, Arthub Asia. It comprises of an exhibition, a performance series, a lecture programme and a publication. Double Infinity marks the first time that a European museum opens itself and its collection to the responses of artists living and working in China – responses that form a host of enriching, humorous and critical insights.

Participating artists: Lara Almarcegui, Johanna Billing, Stanley Brouwn, Comfortable Collective (Jin Shan, Gao Mingyan, Li Mu, Maya Kramer), Cao Fei, Alicia Framis, Liu Gang, HHD_FUN (Wang Zhenfei & Wang Luming), Job Koelewijn, John Körmeling, Surasi Kusolwong, El Lissitzky, David Maljkovic, Julika Rudelius, Speedism, Xu Tan, Zhou Xiaohu, Xijing Men Collective (Chen Shaoxiong, Gimhongsok, Tsuyoshi Ozawa).