July 12, 2023–December 31, 2024
Text by Sam Shiyi Qian:
At the end of year 2021, as I traversed the East Sea Bridge from Shanghai city to the Shanghai Yangshan Deep Water Port on Yangshan Island, I received an automated welcome text message from the Zhejiang Province government. It was then that I discovered the geographical reality: Shanghai Yangshan Deep Water Port is actually located in Shengsi County, Zhoushan City, Zhejiang. During my 30-kilometer sea journey to the island via the East Sea Bridge, I failed to find a single private car companion, evoking the sensation of a scene from a speculative science fiction narrative set in the near future on an artificial island with entirely automated docks. However, this was not fiction; it was the present.
As I passed by Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital on the island, I was once more struck by my physical location and its indication of its administrative jurisdiction. Further research upon my return revealed that Shanghai’s deepwater port project, with profound implications for its “Port-led Development” strategy, emerged from intense competition for the Northeast Asia international shipping center in the early 21st century. The residents of Xiao Yangshan Island (or called Small Yangshan Island) were forcibly displaced from their homeland due to port island construction and resettled in Shanghai’s Nanhui district, the nearest land, or on neighboring Da Yangshan Island (or called Big Yangshan Island). From that point forward, this once-insignificant small island underwent a progressive transformation through land reclamation and various acts of nature, evolving from a small island into an ambitious international port, fulfilling the mission of becoming the Port-led city—Shanghai.
This narrative provides just one of the many clues at the convergence of strategic waterway governance, geographical administration and nomenclature, and natural transformation, all intertwined with the two significant waterways that have shaped the Yangtze River Delta in East China’s alluvial plains, from Lake Tai to the East China Sea, guided by the force of nature, all while resisting modernization.
This realization gave birth to the concept of “Yangtze River Waterways: An Interdisciplinary Artistic Research Project.” The logistical drive for regional economic integration has nurtured specific regional concepts or alliances that transcend mere geographical boundaries, such as tariff-free zones and exclusive economic zones. As an embodiment of modernization, mega-infrastructure has been established for transit and connectivity, cultural landscapes have been cultivated for tourism and entertainment, and new economic zones have emerged, carrying with them a heritage from colonial-era territories. All these facets emphasize the profound connection between infrastructure, technical governance, and land development within these novel regional frameworks.
The Yangtze River Delta holds a historical reflection on waterborne trade routes via the Yangtze River, which shifted with changing sovereignties in ancient times. This history is representative in the context of modern regional development. While Shanghai may be viewed as a new land, its history cannot be isolated from the study of the ancient Gangshen seashore line, Lake Tai Plain, and the Yangtze River Delta, which all played pivotal roles in its geological, topographical, and cultural development.
This project, as the inaugural installment of the Ming Contemporary Art Museum’s annual focus on Landscape, Ecology, and Infrastructure for 2023-2024, endeavors to expand the boundaries of collaboration with like-minded partners and enhance knowledge and understanding through field research conducted alongside artists. It will also feature a series of activities, including discussions, editing workshops, and artist commissions, involving closely coordinated cross-disciplinary experts. The project’s aim is to uncover the often-overlooked insights within the realm of water-related infrastructures, technical governance, water-land boundaries, natural alterations, and power dynamics within the Yangtze River Delta. The project is initiated by Sam Shiyi Qian, Ming Contemporary Art Museum’s curator and Head of Exhibition Department.
