Big stage for Western artists

Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson's show in Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]

March

Olafur Eliasson: Nothingness Is Not Nothing at All at Long Museum in Shanghai

This was not the first time that the Danish-Icelandic artist known for his large-scale installations featuring light, colors, water and ice held a show in China. But the one at the Long Museum was the largest with more than 30 pieces. Described by the museum's co-founder Wang Wei as an artist with a scientist's brain, Eliasson created two large installations for the show: The Open Pyramid tailored for the museum's building and Still River that used water from the Huangpu River.

The visual effects produced by Eliasson drew lots of visitors despite a 150-yuan ($22) ticket.

Alberto Giacometti Retrospective at Yuz Museum in Shanghai

This was the world largest retrospective show of the Swiss sculptor and painter, covering 250 pieces. Alberto Giacometti's iconic Walking Man, Tall Woman and The Nose were on display. Although regarded as the embodiment of modernism, Giacometti is relatively unknown in China, according to Catherine Grenier, curator of the show and director of the Alberto and Annette Giacometti Foundation.

To educate the public that had scarcely heard about him, the museum held a series of programs to help them understand the Western master who died in 1966.