Prada presents “Chuanqi: Spacetime Dialogues at Rong Zhai,” an exhibition curated by art historian, critic, and curator Wu Hung, bringing together works by four contemporary Chinese artists: Geng Xue, Peng Wei, Song Dong, and Xiaoze Xie. Organized with the support of Fondazione Prada, the project will be on view from 12 November 2026 to 28 February 2027 at Prada Rong Zhai, the historic 1918 residence in Shanghai restored by Prada and reopened to the public in 2017. “Chuanqi: Spacetime Dialogues at Rong Zhai” features a selection of artworks by Geng Xue, Peng Wei, Song Dong, and Xiaoze Xie, creating a dialogue with the interior spaces and layered history of Prada Rong Zhai.

The villa’s rooms, once the backdrop for private life, work, conversations, and social gatherings, provide a distinctly intimate setting, unlike a conventional exhibition venue. The atmosphere feels very domestic yet evocative, shaped by refined architectural details and meticulously restored decorative elements. Each artist is presented in a different area of the residence, opening distinct storylines between reality and illusion, personal memory and historical time. As visitors move through Prada Rong Zhai, the exhibition’s chuanqi gradually unfolds. The term chuanqi originally described a genre of fictional short stories filled with strange and marvelous tales during the Tang and Song dynasties (7th–13th centuries). By the Ming and Qing eras (14th–20th centuries), its meaning evolved, referring to theater and opera, particularly long musical dramas, often devoted to romantic passions. Over the centuries, the style of chuanqi changed and innovated its content and narrative technique, but its depiction of legendary stories remains, and is still performed throughout China today.

The exhibition spans two levels of Prada Rong Zhai, where artworks in different media become part of the environment and engage it in dialogues across time and space.

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