portrait of ou ning © artreview

ou ning (born in 1969, zhangjian, guangdong, china) artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and researcher, documents the spaces of poverty and flux in large chinese cities. after months of discussion and evaluation, the committee of shenzhen & hong Kong bi-city biennale of urbanism / architecture has selected ou ning as the chief curator for its third installment, due to be launched at the end of 2009 in shenzhen and hong kong, the coastal city in the south china known as the forefront of china’s economic reform. presented by the shenzhen municipal government and produced by the city’s planning bureau and culture bureau, the biennale is currently the only urbanism / architecture-themed international biennale in china. the first two installments—curated by yung ho chang, head of MIT’s department of architecture in 2005, and ma qingyun, dean of the university of south california school of architecture in 2007—have focused respectively on the theme of ‘city: open door!’ and ‘COER: city of expiration and regeneration’. the 2007 exhibition was also extended beyond shenzhen and was presented innovatively as a ‘shenzhen & hong kong bi-city biennale’. more than 200 architects, designers, artists and scholars were invited during the two exhibitions, which have established the biennale as an once-every-two-year feast for the international scene of urbanism and architecture. chosen by ning, the theme for 2009 is city mobilisation, which will focus on accessibility. retrospectives of individual architects will complement workshops, talks and symposiums in a series of unconventional venues, including historic landmarks in both cities. a chinese architecture tour featuring itineraries from different travel agents will also be part of the programme.

more: the new website of the shenzhen & hong kong bi-city biennale of urbanism / architectureabout ou ning