This project, Rejected Collection, aims to put forth proposals that artists are willing to show without any overriding selection criteria, and without [Ciric's] own curatorial criteria. The project will be shown as an alternative archive of artist's rejected proposals. By engaging with this rejected project phenomenon, we have an opportunity for a closer look into contemporary art practice, curatorial criteria for artist's work, and the re-positioning of artists within the triangulation between institutions, the market, and experimentation. On the other hand, this project represents a history of the development of Chinese contemporary art and its slow shifting toward the public sphere through institutional infrastructures, the laws of the art world, and public acceptance. This book contains proposals stemming from the early '80s through to the present'.

(Abstract from introduction by Biljana Ciric)

The Shanghai Biennale has consistently explored the issue of urban migration. Our attention to the city's history and culture is a consistent feature of previous Biennales, this one being no exception. At the centre of these themes are people, the essence of urban life and the major forces driving urban changes. How to frame this theme, and how to articulate the conceot of the city are the major questions that this year's curatiorial team raise.' The Biennale was held at the Shanghai Art Museum