The scenic watertown of Wuzhen, about two hours from Shanghai, is famed for its theater festival and a World Internet Summit. Now, it's hosting contemporary art by 40 artists from 15 countries. Along with sculptures, paintings, photography, videos, and live performance, the art installations are proving especially popular.

Installations adorn Wuzhen during art festival

Wuzhen is a popular weekend getaway for Shanghai residents. Along with its attractive scenery, the 1,000-year-old watertown hosts an annual theater festival and, for the past two years, the World Internet Summit.

Now, it's the site of the Wuzhen International Contemporary Art Exhibition.

A giant inflated pink fish has generated a lot of buzz as it floats in the town's Water Theater. It was designed by Florentijn Hofman, who got the idea when visiting Wuzhen last year.

Previously, Hofman was famed for creating a huge yellow duck that toured the world, including stops in Hong Kong and Shanghai. But this is the first time he has commissioned mainland artists.

"This was a brilliant example on how you can work from Holland on one side of the world and have this produced in China by email, WeChat, and Internet," said Florentijin Hofman, Dutch artist.

"At the end, we came out with our assistant to do the last scales. It went really nice, working together with a Chinese crew. I was very happy."

Hofman has also enjoyed the installations of other artists, such as the mechanical one called "Anyway" by Dutch artist John Kormeling.

"It's fantastic. It's great to be in with them, and being on a work of John Kormeling, it's amazing. I'm a big fan of John, I think it's a great contribution he made," he said.

This outdoor interactive installation is beside a gate and near a road. It gives tourists the chance to experience the visual impact of changing scenery in the original site. Kormeling says this work reflects his impression of Wuzhen and a transposition of space and time.

"I know Utopia is a word which accesses dreams. Heterotopia is the situation right now. I thought how to make the situation which is right now become more a kind of Utopia, to bring Utopia more to this situation," he said.

"And that's why I put this piece out on the street, and that piece turns, stops at random, and arbitrarily changes direction, to see more possibilities where to go. It's called 'Anyway', so you can go that way, that way, or that way, not only this way."

There are seven installations in the West Scenic District, including "Heads of Ants" and "Standards" by Chinese artists Chen Zhiguang and Liujianhua. Some installations are indoors, like "Again, Still, Yet" in the Ancient Countyard Theatre, by American Ann Hamilton.

"I like this kind of artform because it gives me a feeling of chance and surprise. Also, placing modern items in an ancient town is quite different from just setting them in galleries, and sends a very different message. I hope our town can inspire artists and enable them to create more unique art works," said Chen Xianghong, exhibition chairman.

The exhibition also includes sculptures, paintings, photography, videos, and live performance. It runs until June the 26th.