From 6 November onwards, Italian luxury fashion house Prada will open the doors to the restored mansion Rong Zhai for the first-ever Asian solo exhibition of Chinese artist Shuang Li. Lasting until 25 January 2025, the display is sponsored by the Fondazione Prada and is curated site-specific to the Rong Zhai mansion, built in 1908 and restored by the Italian brand’s foundation.
The latest exhibition includes work Li created specifically for the space. Displays include light and sound installations, resin objects, as well as a video piece made during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a whole, the exhibition serves as a lost letter from the artist to her mother. According to Prada, “‘Distance of the Moon’ delves into the dilemma of communication in the highly mediated reality we live in today, as well as the complicated mother-child relationship” and growing up in the age of the “one-child” policy.
During the exhibition, Prada will also be hosting events such as a talk called “词之洞” (lit. the hole in words) between Li, the artist, Lai Fei, the editor-in-chief of the magazine LEAP and Zhang Hanlu, a curator and art critic. Workshops for adults and young persons will also be hosted as part of the exhibition.
Shuang Li (b. 1990) was born in the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian and received her media research master’s degree at New York University in 2014. She is currently based in Berlin, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland. Fondazione Prada has been making Rong Zhai into a new kind of commercial curation model by sponsoring artists like Li and supporting public education of art and culture. The mansion is now beyond just a branded space for Prada but is an artistic and cultural landmark in Shanghai. Prada’s dedication to art in the city has also contributed to its awareness among the public.
