Past and present

Steel manufacturing has played an important role in the development of Shanghai into a metropolis, meanwhile leaving behind industrial zones in need of transformation. One such old steel mill in Baoshan district is currently under a renewal project and will be turned into a campus of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts.

An exhibition at the China Art Museum in Shanghai pays tribute to the history of steel making, how the industry shaped the city and how industrial areas will be given a new life with the introduction of art.

The exhibition running through to Feb 24 shows selected paintings from the 1950s and '60s, in the collection of the China Art Museum, which depict the booming scenes at steelworks in the style of socialist realism. It also shows works by teachers from art academies across the country which present distinctive explorations in the themes of steel, industrialization and urbanization.

The exhibition is the second installation of the kind under Wind Over the Sea, a project launched by the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts two years ago to address the past and present of Shanghai. There are also lectures, forums and public art programs to discuss the integration of industrial heritage and art in reinvigorating communities.

10 am-6 pm, closed on Mondays. 205 Shangnan Road, Pudong district, Shanghai. 400-921-9021.