17 awesome things to do in Shanghai this week
FOOD & DRINK
FIELDS CNY Feastival
This pop-up festival arrives at Laya Plaza B1, Pudong for one week only. They're offering farm fresh produce, quality imported meats and a range of European and North American brands, plus a special festive farm for the kids while the parents do the grocery shopping.
Laya Plaza. Until Sat 14. Free.
NIGHTLIFE
Snap!
Shaanxi Bei Lu spot Daliah is the current home of Snap!, a space that’s as fun as the night itself – you can take the slide from the first- floor bathroom right to the dance floor, or chill out on a swing if it’s getting too much. Snap! is a night for dressing up, dancing and not taking things too seriously. And it’s proving a hit.
Daliah. Fri 13. 10pm-3am. Free.
Diplo
Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known as Diplo, is one of the most dynamic forces in music today. He is as much an international brand as he is a musician/DJ/producer. He’s proven himself to be a ubiquitous cultural figure, consistently bridging high and low, mainstream and underground, with remarkable tact and reverence.
Myst. Sat 14. 10.30pm. 380RMB.
Jon Kennedy
Jon Kennedy is proud to remind us that he was once described as 'almost certainly one of the three most talented men hailing from Stockport.' Despite being from a small northern town in the UK, within the musical realms this includes Mr Scruff (the Ninja Tune heavyweight who helped Kennedy first get noticed after he received a demo from him), and outside of it the late tennis champion Fred Perry. While Kennedy might not quite have the profile of either, he's certainly an admired man.
DADA. Sat 14. 10pm. Free.
Genome: Murlo
The sonic crew relocate to Elevator and bring in British DJ/producer Murlo. He specialises in a unique brand of intricate, colourful dance music – think dancehall, soca, garage, bassline, grime and more.
Elevator. Sat 14. 10pm. 80RMB; 60RMB (presale).
MUSIC
Metallica
After two back-to-back shows here in 2013, Metallica are returning to China for 2017 with their Shanghai stop part of a three city tour promoting new album Hardwired... To Self-Destruct. A new batch of tickets has just been released, so don't miss out on what ought to be one of the biggest shows of the year – even this early into it.
Mercedez-Benz Arena. Sun 15. 8pm-11pm. 480-1,980RMB
MDC
Texas-formed MDC were one of the pioneers of American hardcore in the early '80s, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Black Flag, DOA and the Dead Kennedys. Having toured the world for over 35 years, they're finally making their China debut as part of a tour with Shanghai-based rock act Round Eye and US punks The Elected Officials.
Yuyintang. Fri 13. 9pm-11.30pm. 120RMB; 100RMB (presale).
NOIShanghai LXXIX
Torturing Nurse is joined by Bai Mengwei (formerly of Nonplus of Color) for a collaborative set as part of the latest NOIShanghai showcase at Chair Club. Also on the bill are Huang Yongqiang, Delhi Swim Club, Yu Yintang, Ganzfeld Lab, AcidGuaGua Temple and Fan Wenzhi.
Chair Club. Sun 15. 7.30pm. 100RMB.
Vieux Farka Touré
Vieux Farka Touré, son of the late, great Ali Farka Touré, brings his Malian music to Shanghai as part of Split Works and the SSO's Contemporale series.
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall. Fri 13. 7.45pm-9.30pm. 80-180RMB.
FILM
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Coming a month later to China than the rest of the world, Rogue One is a side story from the Star Wars juggernaut, focusing on a crew tasked with stealing the plans for the original Death Star. The movie has inspired a range of critical reaction from adoring to derisive, but all note the film’s strong visuals and sense of scale.
Cinemas around town.
Bridget Jones' Baby
Bridget's focus on single life and her career is interrupted when she finds herself pregnant, but with one hitch: she can only be fifty percent sure of the identity of her baby's father.
Cinemas around town.
Railroad Tigers
Jackie Chan teams up with director Ding Sheng for this action-comedy. The film’s story, set in occupied China in 1941, is clearly playing on Chan’s populist appeal, casting him as a railroad worker leading a ragtag group robbing the Japanese (boo! hiss!) to feed starving Chinese citizens.
Cinemas around town.
ART
Into the Heart of the City: Building the Future
As seen at Photofairs 2016, this is the first solo exhibition by self-taught French photographer Nathalie Perakis-Valat. For this series, the artist met with a group of men working on construction sites in Shanghai, in order to collect their stories. It's a feel good show, with unique portrait shots of the workers aiming to encourage a deeper understanding of the people who create the city around us.
Art+ Shanghai Gallery. Until 26 Feb. Free.
Prediction Laboratory
Sun Xun's work explores new ways to challenge our beliefs in ostensible truths and convincing lies, creating surreal stories and alternative narratives to explain the world around us. Prediction Laboratory takes the form of 12 video animations, presented in a dark tunnel, assaulting the senses with a jumble of mechanical and natural noises. The animations display a mixture of themes from desolate future landscapes, nature and Chinese folklore, with the videos created in a variety of ways, from standard photography, to fine painting and woodcarvings.
Yuz Museum. Until 15 Jan.
OVERPOP
In the form of a curatorial conversation between Jeffrey Deitch and Karen Smith, the artists in this group work across media, extending their vision through painting, sculpture, film, and performance.
Yuz Museum. Until 15 Jan. 80RMB.
CLASSICAL & PERFORMANCE
Sleep No More
Punchdrunk and SMG Live come together to put on the haunting, intoxicating world-famous immersive experience that is Sleep No More – Shakespeare’s Macbeth reimagined as a 1930s film thriller, staged as an epic experiential theatre experience’. In fact, labelling this an experience misses the point – it’s more like visiting another planet. Audiences are encouraged to rifle through drawers, read letters, and open suitcases. They can follow different characters and experience multiple storylines, and then head to the bar if it becomes too much.
The McKinnon Hotel. Until 26 March. 550-650RMB.
Flamencura with Paco Peña
Art in all its forms has the potential of reaching a point of alchemy between interpreter and audience, to transport them into a mysterious level of emotion; a red-hot status capable of making them abandon any concern about who or where they are and just immerse themselves in the experience they cannot describe.
Shanghai Oriental Art Center. Jan 11-12. 7.15pm. 180-680RMB.
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