During the recent Spring Festival holiday, the Power Station of Art (PSA) in Shanghai not only remained open as usual but also launched the new artistic year with five concurrent exhibitions. Exclusive benefits for visitors whose Chinese zodiac sign is the Horse or whose surname is "Ma" (Horse), along with New Year wish-making activities, received an enthusiastic public response. Visitor numbers surged by 20% compared to the same period last year, creating a new wave of holiday art viewing. To give back to the public, PSA offered a special "welcome gift" during the Year of the Horse: from February 15 to March 3, any visitor born in a Year of the Horse or with the surname "Ma" could enter the ongoing 15th Shanghai Biennale for free upon presenting valid identification. This initiative aimed to invite more "horses" into the museum to find their own resonance within the realm of contemporary art. As mainland China's first international contemporary art biennale, the 15th Shanghai Biennale, titled "Does the Flower Hear the Bee?", is being held across the first to third floors of PSA. The exhibition brings together over 250 works by 67 artists and collectives from around the world. The exhibition space resembles an open artistic forest, with artworks scattered like seeds, inviting visitors to slow down, listen to each other while wandering, and perceive the convergence of different life wisdoms. Meanwhile, the "Emerging Curators Project 2025" on the seventh-floor gallery presents a different, vibrant, and bold perspective. Whimsical curatorial ideas and unfettered artistic imagination collide here, giving rise to new art forms and expressive pathways. This exhibition is free throughout its run, and visitors can also vote on-site to select the grand prize project from two proposals, personally participating in the growth of young artistic talent. In addition to the major exhibitions, PSA continued its tradition of creating new content themed around the Chinese zodiac each year. From February 10 to March 31, the Dui Dui Dui Bookstore on the first floor presented the special New Year project "One Horse Returns to Its Herd". The project invited 12 young illustrators, photographers, and writers to focus on and reinterpret the "horse" as a subject of dreams. In their interpretations, the horse is no longer just a singular symbol of striving but becomes the wind, reverie, dreams, and a harbor for rest... A free, publicly accessible clay sculpting workshop with a Year of the Horse theme allowed intangible cultural heritage techniques and contemporary creation to meet and blend on-site, inviting visitors to participate hands-on and share instantly, letting inspiration happen "immediately". From zodiac-based benefits to exhibition experiences, and from the Shanghai Biennale to special New Year projects, the Power Station of Art responded to the traditional festival through contemporary art, offering a cultural alternative distinct from the typical festive bustle for the Year of the Horse. Amid viewing, wandering, and contemplation, the new year can unfold gracefully.
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