  he preparations for the Shanghai Biennale have begun. There's a big countdown board hanging near the entranceway to the Shanghai Art Museum. But for Zhang Qing, who has curated for five biennales, it is just an ordinary scene.
The 2006 Shanghai Biennale, which opens on September 5, has adopted the theme “Hyper Design.” The two-month long show will feature 93 artists from around the world. Zhang Qing, the show's art director, is clearly at the center of things.
“An art director serves artists," he says during an interview at his office in Shanghai. "An art director should discuss the artwork with the artist, and he should think of materials, space, transportation and insurance. The artists do a design job like a pastry chef, and I will buy flour and pastry tools for them.”
To install the theme of “Hyper Design,” Zhang Qing says: “We should consider setting up a relationship between the theme of Biennale and the history of Shanghai. Shanghai is a city of design, its architecture comes from all over the world. After the People's Republic of China was established, people came from all over to see Shanghai's designs. Now we say ‘Hyper Design,’ because we want to reevaluate, question and challenge ideas in our over-designed world.”
Like earlier shows, the 2006 Shanghai Biennale features renowned artists from around the world. Some will recreate classical artworks and show them in a contemporary way. You can already find this in Cai Guoqiang and Huang Yongping's works. But in the exhibition entitled “Hyper Design,” to move out of the ancient craftsman's work into something modern is a challenge.
 “To judge whether an artwork is modern doesn't depend on whether its creator is alive. We should trace the history to find out the spirit and the form of ‘Hyper Design’ from culture resources in ancient China, and we can endow it with modernity.” Zhang Qing says.
This is a clue to Zhang Qing's past. You might not know the director of the Shanghai Biennale was a fan of traditional Chinese art works but it is true. He left the Suzhou Museum and came to the office of the Shanghai Biennale in 1996. It was, he says, a turning point in his career.
Zhang Qing was born in Suzhou in 1964. His early life was surrounded by Chinese classical culture. As a teenager, he lived in a school dormitory that was located in a famous park, the Lion Forest Garden. Everyday, he says, he and his classmates exercised in the beautiful gardens. He also studied painting.
 In 1988, Zhang Qing participated in the Big Dipper Painting Exhibition in Nanjing. He also wrote a review of the show. Soon after, the editor in chief of the Jiangsu Pictorial magazine praised his writing skills and invited him to write art reviews. In 1989, Zhang Qing, as a critic not an artist, participated in “No U-Turn” Contemporary Art Exhibition at the National Gallery in Beijing.
After 1989, Zhang Qing studied art history at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. In 1991, he participated in an important archeology project. A cave in Henan Province had been flooded. And valuable frescos inside the cave were in danger. To keep the frescos in an ancient tomb safe, Zhang Qing and his classmates went into the cave to copy the ceiling frescos and record the precious data for historical study.
 It seemed to be his destiny to work on ancient art. After graduation, he got a job in the Suzhou Museum for the next eight years. He did research on many antiques, such as bronze, porcelain, painting and calligraphy. Before he left the Suzhou Museum in 1996, he took charge of repairing parts of the famous classical gardens of Suzhou. Based on his research, he came to his own understanding about rebuilding old things.
Looking back at the distinguishing features of other international biennales, you can often find that most of them reveal a curator's personal style. And the 2006 Shanghai Biennale is no different. Based on Zhang Qing's recommendation, eight models based on Suzhou's ancient architectural styles will be on display. The models come from Tongji University's historical collection. Zhang Qing is leaving his mark on the Biennale.
Translated by Wei Ying
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