I played a game with the king in a newly built Milanese palace on the Bund in Shanghai

Standing at the entrance of the Shanghai Bund No. 3 Hushen Gallery, there is really some trance: there has been intermittent trumpet sounds, the sound of utensils colliding, the sound of bells, and the hissing sound of a large section of air being recorded in the video, no one can know what is hidden in front of them; and the light on the top of the head is dim and dim, and people unconsciously slow down their steps, at this time, the urgency of inner exploration and the contradiction caused by slow movement make the road ahead more mysterious; until they walk a few steps, The Baroque palace in front of me, made of pieces of hanging cloth, instantly turned all curiosity into questions - where is this? palace?

Turning his head, the white wall facing the palace had already posted an explanation. It turned out to be a creative themed exhibition called The King and Me, a cloth palace and other mysterious installations throughout the space inspired by the Royal Palace of Milan. The Palazzo reale in Milan is where they first appear.

Pushing back the clock to September 2016, the Royal Palace of Cloth is now on display in Milan's local historic building, the Palazzo Reale. People kept lifting the cloth strips into this palace, and it wasn't long before they lifted the strips and went out. The inside and outside of the cloth strip are like two worlds, and going in and out is the same as traveling through space. Passing through this palace, you can also pass through the maze, giant chess array, and so on. No one doubts where they are, because this is the palace, and all the devices are made for the palace.

"In fact, the Royal Palace of Milan has always been an empty palace, and no prince has actually lived in it, so there are legends that this is a palace inhabited by the Devil Prince. Our artist used this story to bring the Devil Prince back to life. One of the exhibition's curators, Shanghai-based curator David Quadrio, introduced it in a media preview.

The King and I was co-created by Le Dou and another Italian-based curator, Massimo torrigiani. They invited nine artists to use the namesake materials provided by the Italian material brand Alcantara to create exhibits that match the space of the Palazzo reale in Milan. However, this is only half of the planning – they also plan to move the entire exhibition to another historic building, so that the exhibition created for a specific space can be presented in different time and space.

"When we started working on The King and Me with artists in Milan, we asked ourselves a few questions: If we were to transfer these site-specific works and ancient rooms to another new place, how would the artist live there and recreate them? Considering that it needs to take place in another historic building overlooking another historic city, how can the artist reconstruct it in another space? "Compared with the Royal Palace of Milan, the taste of The Hushen Gallery is not so heavy, there is no gold and silver, it is clean, and the effect is good." ”

That's why Hushen Gallery dimmed the interior lighting – dim lighting can reduce the visual effect of the entire space being too new and too bright. The background sound you can hear at the door is from a scrolling video. The video captures scenes of live performing arts at the Milan exhibition, linking the two cities and two exhibition spaces. Of course, this will also allow visitors to have a more comprehensive understanding of the entire exhibition and enjoy the opportunity to spend time with the king and play games.

By the way, for those who like materials, another attraction of this exhibition is that all the exhibits are made of the same material. The rich form of expression should also stimulate interest in careful observation.

Finally, with the exhibition information attached, you may also want to play a game with the king who has traveled through time and space - there are many mysterious devices waiting for you to unlock them yourself.

Venue: Hushen Gallery, 3rd Floor, Bund No. 3

Exhibition time: January 10, 2017 - February 9, 2017