Shanghai Power Station of Art

Power Station of Art (PSA) 上海当代艺术博物馆

Established on October 1st, 2012, the Power Station of Art (PSA) is the first state-run museum dedicated to contemporary art in mainland China. Standing tall by Shanghai’s mother river, the Huangpu River, PSA now occupies an area of 41-thousand square meters and is home to the city’s Biennale exhibition. With an internal height of 27 meters, the museum now houses exhibition sections that add up to 15-thousand square meters, and its 165-meter chimney, being an independent exhibition space, has also become an integral part of Shanghai’s world-famous skyline.
Renovated from the former Nanshi Power Plant, PSA was once the Pavilion of Future during the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The museum has not only witnessed the city’s vast changes from the industrial age to the IT era, but has also provided a rich source of inspirations for artists with its simple yet straightforward architectural styles.
As Shanghai’s generator for its new urban culture, PSA regards its dedication unstoppable innovation and progress as the key to its long-term vitality. Since its initiation, the museum has been striving to provide an open platform for the public to learn and appreciate contemporary art, break the barrier between life and art, and promote cooperation and knowledge generation between different schools of art and culture.

Field Trip Information

MEDIART 490 Senior Seminar: This senior seminar trip took inspiration from a puzzling question frequently asked in the field: what do arts and humanities do after all? As a core component of the interdisciplinary major in Media and Arts, this seminar lead students to explore this question through terms such as cosmopolitics and cosmopolitanism that are central to the contemporary debates in the arts. This visit to a real-world exhibition on the topic was essential for students’ learning and understanding of cosmopolitan art and ideas.
HIST201 Methods of Historical Research: In addition to viewing a state-of-the-art museum of contemporary works, students gained an understanding of how history is recorded through art. Students looked at how art can be used as a tool for historical research and for fueling contemporary understandings as well.