作为礼巴堂艺术空间迁至新址的开幕首展，本次展览以“转场·形核”为题，指向空间迁移与艺术生成的双重寓意。在物理与化学中，“形核”是新物质或结构开始出现的临界点，往往在微观层面孕育出宏观的秩序。对于本空间而言，从复兴西路到河南南路的转场，从梧桐树的悠然荫影，到新址内庭的光影晶核，这是场域的更替，更是文化语境与艺术实践的重组；而新空间的首次展览，恰如一颗“晶核”，将在未来持续生长并扩散。

参展的十余位中德艺术家，分别来自不同的文化背景和学术传统，作品了涵盖了装置、绘画、雕塑、摄影、与跨媒体实验等多样形式。这是一次关于“共时性”(Simultanität)的实验：不同文化经验、艺术方法论与观念体系在同一空间的并置，正如形核过程中微小扰动会触发质变，展览也意在呈现中德艺术家之间的张力、临界与生成。然而，这种汇聚并非停留在表层的差异并置，而是一种“差异的生成”。在德勒兹的《差异与重复》中，差异并不是相对于同一性的偏离，而是一种积极的、内在的创造力量。差异本身就是生成的动力，它通过不断的重复而生产出新的形式与意义。这种基于“差异与重复”的生成逻辑，正是礼巴堂艺术空间在转场与交汇中展现活力的根本所在。

张錡玮 博士

As the inaugural exhibition marking the relocation of Shanghai Liberal Town Art Space, Shift & Nucleation speaks to the dual significance of spatial transition and artistic emergence. In physics and chemistry, “nucleation” refers to the critical point at which a new substance or structure begins to appear—a microscopic event that often gives rise to macroscopic order. For this space, the shift from West Fuxing Road to South Henan Road, from the tranquil shade of plane trees to the crystalline interplay of light and shadow in the new courtyard, is not merely a change of site, but also a reconfiguration of cultural context and artistic practice. This first exhibition in the new venue functions as a “nucleus” that will continue to grow and radiate into the future.

Featuring over ten Chinese and German artists from diverse cultural backgrounds and academic traditions, the exhibition encompasses installation, painting, sculpture, photography, and cross-media experimentation. It is conceived as an experiment in simultaneity: the juxtaposition of different cultural experiences, artistic methodologies, and conceptual frameworks within a shared space. Just as subtle disturbances in nucleation can trigger qualitative transformations, the exhibition seeks to reveal the tensions, thresholds, and emergent dynamics between Chinese and German artists. Yet this convergence is not a mere surface juxtaposition of differences, but a process of differentiation. As Gilles Deleuze argues in Difference and Repetition, difference is not a deviation from identity, but an active, immanent force of creation. Difference itself is the driving energy of becoming—it generates new forms and meanings through continuous repetition. It is precisely this generative logic of “difference and repetition” that underpins the vitality of Shanghai Liberal Town Art Space as it unfolds through shifts and encounters.

DR. QIWEI ZHANG