Nightlife

Ajinai Shanghai Act

Ajinai is a six-piece band from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region whose music provides a portal into the spirit of the Mongolian people. Formed in 2009 with a goal to preserve Mongolian culture through their music, Ajinai was warmly received at the Beijing 2010 Midi Music Festival, and has since performed regularly in Beijing and Shanghai. The band members play with traditional instruments like the horse-head fiddle, taobuxuur and saman drum to represent an uninhibited and bold temperament typical of their fellow people. Frontman Hugjiltu has performed across Europe, Mexico and Canada as part of Hanggai, another popular Mongolian band in China.

Date: December 6, 8:30 pm till late

Venue: Yuyintang

Address: 851 Kaixuan Road 凯旋路851号

Tickets: 60 yuan

Call 5237-8662 for details

Vopli Vidopliassova One Night Show

Vopli Vidopliassova, aka VV, is a popular rock band from Ukraine. It was formed in 1986 by guitarist Yuri Zdorenko and bassist Aleksandr Pipa. The following year saw the band stage their first performance at a rock club in Kiev, with vocalist and accordionist Oleg Skripka and drummer Sergei Sakhno. Since then, the band has been influenced by various genres including folk, patriotic songs, punk, hard rock, heavy metal and, most recently, electronic music. After playing actively and releasing a dozen albums and hit songs, Vopli Vidopliassova will stage a one-night-only show in Shanghai playing new hits from their 2013 album Chudovy svit.

Date: December 7, 8 pm till late

Venue: MAO Livehouse

Address: 308 Chongqing Road South 重庆南路308号

Tickets: 250 yuan to 350 yuan

Call 400-610-3721 for details

On Stage

Flower: Laura Fygi China Tour Concert

The renowned Dutch singer Laura Fygi is capable of delivering tunes in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and even in Chinese. She has recorded 11 albums over the last 18 years, combining different genres and styles of songs. She recorded her first solo album Introducing in 1991 with renowned jazz producer Ruud Jacobs, which went platinum won a prestigious Dutch Edison Award. Her 1993 album Bewitched was in Billboard's Jazz chart for weeks, which is a unique achievement for a Dutch artist. In her China Tour concerts, she will perform revised versions of classic Chinese songs, including Tuberose, Only You Do I Care About and Girl from South Sea.

Date: December 11, 7:30 pm

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center

上海东方艺术中心

Address: 425 Dingxiang Road

丁香路425号

Tickets: 80 to 580 yuan

Call 4006-466-406 for details

Exhibitions

Beyond Color: Contemporary Abstract Art

The group exhibition showcases the work of five cross-generational abstract artists, including André Kneib, Sun Juju, Lan Zhenghui, Li Lei, and Qiu Deshu. Beyond Color is a vibrant, visually arresting snapshot of the current epoch through color in abstract painting. It is unmistakably contemporary, yet also indicative of a thoughtful engagement with past developments in the use of color across Chinese painting history. The works of these five artists demonstrate their diverse, unique relationships with color, evoking a varied spectrum of educational backgrounds, schools of thought, cultural influences and time periods. Collectively, these artists envisage a contemporary abstract painting practice that inventively employs color as a means of expression.

Date: Until January 10, 2014, 10:30 am to 7 pm

Venue: Pearl Lam Galleries

Address: 1/F, 181 Jiangxi Road Middle 江西中路181号1楼

Admission: Free

Call 6323-1989 for details

Michael Wolf: Small God, Big City

The exhibition of photographic works by internationally renowned artist Michael Wolf takes viewers through the oeuvre of one of Asia's most prolific photographers. It showcases more than 100 photographs from seven of Michael Wolf's bodies of work: My Favorite Things, Hong Kong Back Door (2003), Architecture of Density (2003-07), Industrial Architecture (2006), Tokyo Compression (2010), Small God, Big City (2012), and Scout Shots, the recently released collection of small format pictures of buildings taken by Wolf in scouting trips around Hong Kong, while working on his Density and Industrial series. Beginning with his back alleyway street photography with the series My Favorite Things and Hong Kong Back Door (2003), Wolf's camera is always interested in the human footprint and traces of the individual left, and often lost, amidst the chaotic density of the Asian megacity where Wolf has lived since the 1990s.

Date: December 7 to February 23, 2014, 10 am to 5:30 pm (Tuesday to Saturday), 12 pm to 5 pm (Sunday)

Venue: M97 Gallery

Address: 2/F, 97 Moganshan Road 莫干山路97号2楼

Admission: Free

Call 6266-1597 for details

Hugo Boss Asia Art Award: Emerging Chinese Artists

Seven emerging artists from China have been named finalists of the newly established Hugo Boss Asia Art Award: Birdhead (Shanghai), Hsu Chia-wei (Taipei), Hu Xiangqian (Beijing), Kwan Sheung-chi (Hong Kong), Lee Kit (Hong Kong), Li Liao (Shenzhen) and Li Wei (Beijing). The exhibition displays the works by these seven shortlisted artists. Through this exhibition, contemporary art from across the Straits (Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong) present divergent features in terms of artistic creations, aesthetic perspectives and social challenges in different cities and regions.

Date: Until December 8, 10 am to 6 pm (closed on Mondays)

Venue: Rockbund Art Museum

上海外滩美术馆

Address: 20 Huqiu Road

虎丘路20号

Admission: 15 yuan

Call 3310-9985 for details

A Seed of Civilization

The exhibition focuses on the art and culture of Sub-Saharan Africa. Co-organized by the Shanghai Himalayas Museum, the African Museum in Zhejiang Normal University and the university's Institute of African Studies, the exhibition displays the objects ancient Africans from various tribes used for rituals and in daily life, and also showcases the influence African culture has had on modern and contemporary art movements, including expressionism, fauvism, and abstract art. There is also an interactive area for visitors to participate in games that feature African music, dance, food, books and art.

Date: Until January 19, 2014, 10 am to 6 pm (closed on Mondays)

Venue: Shanghai Himalayas Museum

上海喜马拉雅美术馆

Address: 3/F, Area A, 869 Yinghua Road

樱花路869号A区3楼

Admission: 50 yuan

Call 5033-9801 for details