SHENZHEN will hold its first Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture from Saturday through March 10 of 2006 at the Contemporary Art Terminal in the Overseas Chinese Town.

The multi-discipline exhibition features 82 works by artists, graphic designers, photographers, filmmakers, industrial designers, game producers, architects and urbanists seeking to depict the various facets of the contemporary city, and also present strategies for building and inhabiting the city.

Works by some famous artists, such as Arata Isozaki and Atelier Bow-wow from Japan, Aglaia Konrad from Belgium, and Liao Wei-li from China's Taiwan, are on display. A performance piece by well-known mainland director Meng Jinghui entitled "City Metamorphosis" will be staged at the opening ceremony starting 3 p.m. Saturday.

The theme of the exhibition is "City, Open Door," which deals with open policies, open cities and open attitudes. "We want to tell citizens that city construction is not exclusively the government's business. It is also the business of ordinary people," said Huang Weiwen, an official of the urban planning bureau, an organizer of the exhibition.

Among the exhibits are photos of a house built by 83-year-old Shenzhener Chen Peijun. Chen spent 48 years building a four-story house with bricks, mud and wood she collected at construction sites at Shajin, Bao'an District. She built the house using her. Shenzhen's Cultural Center, designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, is also on display.

The independent curator is Yung Ho Chang, chairman of MIT's School of Architecture.

All exhibits are in English as well as Chinese.

Editor: Wing