51 Personae – Miss Read

51 Personae

51 Personae is a collaborative art project, publishing initiative, and cooperative platform. It started as a Shanghai Biennale off-site program, composed of 51 events in urban Shanghai based on individual/group experiences/actions within the context of urban transformation (2016-2017). Since 2018 onwards, it has evolved into a self-sustaining independent art publishing project, believing that publishing is both an urgent and valid artistic practice in contemporary cultural practice. It places special emphasis on life experiences in Asia and the Third World, as well as marginalized voices under suppression. It collaborate with individual artists, designers, translators, collectives and self-organized social forms in Asia and beyond, exploring the forms, possibilities and potential of realism in art as expressive actions today.
51 Tan
Cao Feile, 51 Tan, 51 Personae, 2024 © Cao Feile

51 Tan is a comic realistic documentation of the street vendors in the city of Shanghai from 2016 to 2023.

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Deep Simulator
Ag, Deep Simulator, 51 Personae, 2022 © Ag

Based on a namesake video game, it is a collaborative experiment between artists aaajiao and the author Ag, which began during the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020.

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Beijing Underground
gongyi, Beijing Underground, 51 Personae, 2024 © gongyi

Beijing Underground” is a comic story of trapped people. One summer, four people were trapped in a bar in Beijing after falling asleep on a black couch, and three of them knew very well that the only way to get out is to go to the "Beijing Underground".

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