The Type

Type and design across cultures

51 Tan

£9.00

The fading street life, businesses, and vitality of Shanghai began to show signs in early 2016. Starting from 2015 and peaking in 2016, the "demolition of illegal constructions" movement was changing the familiar streets of ordinary people and the small shops and vendors upon which daily life relied, leaving people astonished and bewildered.

Invited by 51 Personae Project, Feile, a female architect was invited to document, in the form of observation-based documentary comics, and released the "51 Tan" (Stalls) series on the WeChat of the Power Station of Ar. This invitation turned her into a street recorder, squatting on the streets, learning the visible "ways of resolution" and "ways of coping" in street survival.

Three years later, in 2019, the 39 stalls recorded between 2016 and 2017 were compiled into a small book, omitting specific locations and characters, leaving only their life forms. Although the climax of the "demolition of illegal constructions" had passed by then, the disappearance of street vendors, roadside markets, and the non-standard but flexible and human street commerce was a fundamental fact in everyone's memory.

The disappearance of the stalls also took away pedestrians' perception of the streets, their rights, and their awareness of rights. In the historical process of shaping Shanghai, streets and roads have always been able to become temporary and seasonal living spaces, and have far exceeded their transportation functions, constituting an important part of public life.

With thirty years of continuous demolition, the stigmatization of the so-called "messiness," and arbitrary changes to the boundaries of "violations," the streets gradually lost human life. Autonomous and creative street life has been constantly suppressed and deprived, and urban life has gradually retreated to life "within walls" – within the walls of commercial housing and shopping malls.

Since its first publication in 2019, "51 Tan" has been loved by readers. Therefore, this project did not stop after the end of the current Shanghai Biennale, and the continuous enrichment of content came from enthusiastic submissions and the continued observation and collection by the original authors. Until October 2023, all 51 stalls were finally completed.

Some of the stalls and people in this book are still there, some have moved to another place due to intense urban changes, some have closed, and some have completely left. At the same time, there are new stalls – temporary or long-term, pretended or sincere, organized or unorganized vendors – constantly emerging.

WE RECORD THESE NOT-SO-DISTANT STREET SCENES TO ARCHIVE A CITY AND TO HOPE THAT ONE DAY WE CAN CONTINUE TO LIVE FREELY ON THE STREETS.

51 Tan

The fading street life, businesses, and vitality of Shanghai began to show signs in early 2016. Starting from 2015 and peaking in 2016, the “demolition of illegal constructions” movement was changing the familiar streets of ordinary people and the small shops and vendors upon which daily life relied, leaving people astonished and bewildered.

Invited by 51 Personae Project, Feile, a female architect was invited to document, in the form of observation-based documentary comics, and released the “51 Tan” (Stalls) series on the WeChat of the Power Station of Ar. This invitation turned her into a street recorder, squatting on the streets, learning the visible “ways of resolution” and “ways of coping” in street survival.

Three years later, in 2019, the 39 stalls recorded between 2016 and 2017 were compiled into a small book, omitting specific locations and characters, leaving only their life forms. Although the climax of the “demolition of illegal constructions” had passed by then, the disappearance of street vendors, roadside markets, and the non-standard but flexible and human street commerce was a fundamental fact in everyone’s memory.

The disappearance of the stalls also took away pedestrians’ perception of the streets, their rights, and their awareness of rights. In the historical process of shaping Shanghai, streets and roads have always been able to become temporary and seasonal living spaces, and have far exceeded their transportation functions, constituting an important part of public life.

With thirty years of continuous demolition, the stigmatization of the so-called “messiness,” and arbitrary changes to the boundaries of “violations,” the streets gradually lost human life. Autonomous and creative street life has been constantly suppressed and deprived, and urban life has gradually retreated to life “within walls” – within the walls of commercial housing and shopping malls.

Since its first publication in 2019, “51 Tan” has been loved by readers. Therefore, this project did not stop after the end of the current Shanghai Biennale, and the continuous enrichment of content came from enthusiastic submissions and the continued observation and collection by the original authors. Until October 2023, all 51 stalls were finally completed.

Some of the stalls and people in this book are still there, some have moved to another place due to intense urban changes, some have closed, and some have completely left. At the same time, there are new stalls – temporary or long-term, pretended or sincere, organized or unorganized vendors – constantly emerging.

WE RECORD THESE NOT-SO-DISTANT STREET SCENES TO ARCHIVE A CITY AND TO HOPE THAT ONE DAY WE CAN CONTINUE TO LIVE FREELY ON THE STREETS.