Peng Zuqiang
Short-term Histories
Rockbund Art Museum
Nov 6–Apr 26, 2026

How can contemporary image-making capture the vestiges of the past? Through experimental film installations made with the cameraless photogram technique, Paris-based artist Peng Zuqiang continues this inquest for his first institutional solo show in Asia, “Short-term Histories,” at the Rockbund Art Museum. Probing the brief existence of the unique, now defunct 8.75 mm film format—which was used in state-organized portable film screenings in 1960s and ‘80s rural China—Peng foregrounds the photochemical form as a tool of political power as well as a “site of memory” that resists collective amnesia.

Lin Tianmiao
There’s No Fun in It! 
Power Station of Art
Sep 30–Jan 4, 2026

Thread-wrapping, bone-splicing, and mechanical assemblage—for over three decades, Lin Tianmiao has explored questions of gender, memory, death, and materiality through everyday objects and corporeal experiences. Curated by Pi Li, “There’s No Fun in It!” at Power Station of Art is Lin’s most comprehensive survey to date, gathering more than 40 works that trace the development of the artist’s playful yet incisive visual vocabulary. From early textile projects—such as her giant cotton sphere There is no fun of it (1997–2014) and Braiding (1998)—to recent large-scale installations, the exhibition unravels the complex emotions and poetic absurdities of the human condition.

The Great Camouflage 
Rockbund Art Museum
Nov 6–Apr 26, 2026

Drawing on Caribbean theorist and activist Suzanne Césaire’s writings on colonial resistance, the multidisciplinary group show “The Great Camouflage” at Rockbund Art Museum situates contemporary art practices in dialogue with the 20th-century legacy of anti-imperialism. Curated by X Zhu-Nowell with Kandis Williams, the exhibition brings together 16 artists and collectives of diverse backgrounds. Through video, textile, and performance works presented alongside archives of Black feminist revolutionary figures, the artists extend Césaire’s vision of surrealism as a tool of resistance, exploring the historical connections and aesthetic transmissions between Black and Asian radical thinkers.

Huma Bhabha 
Cc Foundation
Nov 12–Apr 5, 2026

Through her unique material language and evocative figurative forms, Huma Bhabha engages with themes of displacement and fragmented identity. Private contemporary art space Cc Foundation is hosting the New York-based Pakistani artist’s debut solo show in China. Curated by Danielle Shang and featuring six sculptures, two painted photographs, and 18 prints—including works from her seminal print series Reconstructions (2007)—the exhibition presents a chance for Chinese audiences to witness the artist’s dialogue between ancient influences and contemporary urgencies.

The World Itself Dreams 
BANK
Nov 11–Dec 25

Taking its title from a quote in Gaston Bachelard’s 1958 book The Poetics of Space, “The world itself dreams, and we give voice to its dreams,” the latest group exhibition at BANK examines the intersection of dreams and reality. Curated by Yuan Fuca, the show features 15 artists—including Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Laure Prouvost, and Jiang Cheng, among others—whose works investigate themes of memory, mythology, technology, and perception. Spanning photography, sculpture, video, painting, digital art, and installation, the pieces consider how dream states and the waking experience can coexist as continuous and interconnected processes.

Tan Jing
Scent Hall Linger
Antenna Space
Nov 1–Dec 23

Inspired by Cao Xueqin’s classic 18th-century novel Dream of the Red Chamber, in which a feudal aristocratic family is confronted with corruptive temptations that threaten their orderly lives, Tan Jing examines the tantalizing properties of scent in her latest solo exhibition at Antenna Space. The works on view—from incense on ceramic panels to gauzy, fragrant oil-infused curtains, and wall reliefs coated with aphrodisiac aromas—draw on her extensive research on olfactory stimuli, ancient Chinese literature, and botanical archives. These sensuous “recipe experiments” create an affectively intoxicating environment, inviting viewers to ponder the tension between rationality and desire.  

Tang Yongxiang
People / Tree / Feet
Tank Shanghai
Nov 11–Feb 8, 2026

Since 2012, Tang Yongxiang has engaged in a process of capturing spontaneous photographs of everyday scenes, which he then sketches onto canvas. Over extended periods, he repeatedly paints, erases, and adds color and texture, creating surfaces that embody traces of his decisions and hesitations. The Beijing-based artist’s solo exhibition at Tank Shanghai, titled “People / Tree / Feet,” features paintings that explore the tension between image and abstraction, embracing chance alongside control. The works unfold physically and conceptually, serving as a record of time, gesture, and daily existence.

Xu Zhen
Instant Contemplation 
ShanghART
Nov 10–Jan 11, 2026

“Instant Contemplation” at ShanghART delves into the history of Chinese painting through Xu Zhen’s methodology of “ecosystem as medium.” The exhibition is organized into four thematic sections, namely “Giant,” “Shan Shui,” “Mist,” and “Enlightenment,” which trace a metaphysical journey from the spirit of objects to the realm of the mind. Reconfiguring traditional Chinese painting through conceptual and technological processes, the show offers a contemporary framework that engages with global culture and reflects on the evolving role of painting.