Last chance to catch the 2010 Downstream Garage Fringe Festival

Although not as robust as its Beijing counterpart, the Shanghai art scene -- it's artists, collectives and audiences -- continually pushes boundaries, both legal and creative. And this fall's Fringe Festival shows the best of what the city has to offer.

Organized by Shanghai art powerhouse Downstream Garage, the Shanghai Fringe Festival is a contemporary performing and visual art feast.

Starting on October 8 and running until December 19, it showcases 13 performances, five visual exhibitions and eight themed forums. Best part? Everything is free and on the weekends.

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This is Downstream Garage’s second festival. Expanding on last year's offerings, organizers have added visual art exhibitions to the 2010 schedule.

Last chance

The next two weekends will mark the end of the 2010 Fringe Festival.

Highlights to watch include: dance “Sickroom III Qing. Ming” by Niao, Shanghai’s first post-modern dance ensemble; a visual art exhibition titled “Chou Mei” put on by six artists; and a theater production called “The Little Society, Volume Two” by Grass Stage.

Themed forums will be hosted by theater director Zhao Chuan, Wang Chong and the festival’s executive director Wang Jingguo.

Check out Downstream Garage’s website for more details and events.

"Fringe" art, in fact, is not new to Shanghai. The city used to host a two-week long festival for alternative arts called “Fringe Shanghai” that took place in 2006 and 2008, providing a stage for less-than-mainstream local and international groups. However, the organizers fell off the creative map after 2008, leaving room for the current Fringe Festival incarnation.

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Compared to Fringe Shanghai, Downstream Garage’s contemporary performing and visual art festival is more underground and localized. Part of the reason for this is because the festival is prohibited from inviting or showcasing “foreign” acts. Even with this restriction, the event has still attracted the attendance of industry big names like poet Ren Mingyang, physical theater and film lab J-town as well as dance ensemble Niao.

“If Downstream Garage and this festival can grow and be harvested together with our contemporary culture -- young theater people and inquisitive audiences -- our best hope as hosts and voluntary participators in the art festival will be fulfilled,” says Zhao Chuan, art director of the Shanghai Fringe Festival.