Swatch Art Peace Hotel celebrates 5th Anniversary with resident artist open studios, "traces" exhibition & "Grain God Narrative" show

One of the Shanghai Biennale “City Projects” this year, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel opens its doors to the public today, November 11, 2016, for an Open Studio Day. Interested guests are invited to visit the workshops of artists who are currently in residence at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, and to explore the exhibition of “traces” – art made by former artists-in-residence – displayed throughout the premises of the landmark heritage building on the Bund in Shanghai.

In the five years since it opened in November 2011, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel’s 18 workshops and apartments have welcomed more than two hundred and twenty artists from over forty countries. Today the Swatch Art Peace Hotel is widely recognized as a significant point of reference in Shanghai’s vibrant contemporary art scene.

In partnership with Power Station of Art (PSA) and the 11th Shanghai Biennale, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel invites visitors to discover “Grain God Narrative”, an exhibition curated by the winners of PSA’s Emerging Curators Project 2016. Three former artists-in-residence are participating in the exhibition, which opened October 22nd in the Swatch Art Peace Hotel's main exhibition room. Visitors can also get to know all of the artists-in-residence and their traces from the opening in 2011 to the present, by viewing the Virtual Museum on the Swatch Art Peace Hotel website. 

November 11, 2016 will also see the world premiere, at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, of Italian sound artist Chiara Luzzana’s new work, “SOUND OF CITY”, based on sounds recorded by the artist. Chiara Luzzana was an artist- in-residence at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in 2013. A subsequent collaboration with Swatch  led  to  her intriguing composition, “The Sound of Swatch”. The Swiss watchmaker then commissioned a full series of "SOUNDS OF CITIES", compositions based on sounds recorded by the artist as she travelled to Zurich, Tokyo, New York, Milan, Venice and Shanghai. The artist’s unique sensibility and musical language allows her to tell the story of each of these cities in a compelling and fascinating way. In a complementary effort, Swatch has created a series of companion “Destination” watches for a number of the cities mentioned.

One of this year’s Shanghai Biennale “City Projects”, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel is located at 23 East Nanjing Road, Shanghai, China. The “Grain God Narrative” exhibition remains open to the public through February 14, 2017.