There are sure to be both prurient reactions and voyeuristic interest when details of Chinese artist Yang Zhichao’s Love Story become public in 2016. Originally a collection of punch cards, it has grown over the years, and now takes the form of a diary, with individual pages embellished with drawings. 

The young British artist James Richards, known for his atmospheric collages of grainy analogue video, recently made headlines as one of the four shortlisted nominees for the prestigious Turner Prize, an annual award presented by the Tate gallery in London. Just a few days after the announcement, Richards was in China to attend the opening of his first exhibition in the country, “Of Disturbance,” at Magician Space in Beijing’s 798 art district. His visit to China also included a series of screenings and symposia, co-organized by Magician Space and London-based arts organization Electra, at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, as well as at OCAT Xi’an, OCAT Shenzhen and the Asia Society in Hong Kong. ArtAsiaPacific caught up with Richards to chat about his work, his experiences in China and his thoughts on the 2014 Turner Prize.

Curator James Elaine has been seeking out emerging artists for over 25 years—first on behalf of the Drawing Center in New York and then for the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, where he implemented the highly respected Hammer Projects series, focusing on emerging international and local talent.

South Asia is described by many in the art world as being “the next big thing.” With more and more artists and museums popping up, increased attention has been focusing on the rapidly emerging Asian art scene. 

Back in 2006, the government of Shanghai ambitiously declared their mission to build 100 new museums by decade’s end. Now, nearly ten years since, it has unsurprisingly not reached this lofty goal; yet the city has nonetheless seen a significant museum boom in recent years, thanks mainly to the proliferation of private institutions. In less than a decade, Shanghai has averaged a new museum per year, with even more to come.