From August 23 to December 7, 2025, X Museum partners with Shanghai Taikoo Li Qiantan to present the group exhibition “The Cabinet of Wonder” at The Pool by X Museum.This exhibition encompasses the practices of “making” of 27 artists exploring diverse identities through varied artistic forms. It also follows the curative thread from the previous exhibition, “Zhilan: A Glance in Urban Garden,” concerning the evolution of urban spaces with potential for humanity and commerce, collecting and exhibiting objects bearing cultural meanings.

Entitled “The Cabinet of Wonder,” this exhibition draws inspiration from three key concepts. The first is the origin from the German word “Wunderkammer,” which means the private collections space flourished in Renaissance Europe. With the development of trade, the fusion of Eastern and Western cultures began to appear in man-made objects from the late 14th century onwards. The Noble of the time carefully displayed both natural specimens and man-made artifacts from their own private collections worldwide. These cabinets of wonder reflected a complex and diverse knowledge system, following the specific principles of display. Considered an early precursor to the modern art museum, the Wunderkammer was a spatial means of presenting knowledge through visualization and aggregation practices. This practice evolved over time, leading to the diverse forms of art museums today, reflecting historical shifts in knowledge systems and cognitive models, also plays a corresponding social role. With the establishment of art history museums and natural history museums in the first half of the 19th century, modern art museums, as sacred spaces created by humans, continued and developed a sense of “wonder.” This enthusiasm for classifying, collecting, and displaying objects also led to the birth of another major space in modern society: the shopping mall.

The second reference is from Cabinet of Wonder, a series of publications translated spontaneously by the Chinese art industry to meet knowledge needs around 2015. This series, instrumental in shaping the artistic ecosystem, exemplified the spirit of self-organization and self-production, nurturing the growth of multiple generations of art professionals. This capacity for self-organization is considered crucial for diverse groups to empower themselves and actively participate in social development, a practice of increasing significance in today’s world.

The third inspiration is from the inherent geographical attributes of The Pool by X Museum. Located within the Taikoo Li Qiantan lifestyle hub, The Pool has consistently used its exhibitions to respond to and examine the potential for artistic interventions within urban contexts, embracing a holistic approach to spatial practice. “The Cabinet of Wonder” builds upon the exploration of spatial culture and museum history initiated in “Zhilan: A Glance in Urban Garden,” while “The Pool by the Pool” highlights the ways in which art exhibitions can appropriate and offer alternative portrayals of the cultural characteristics of urban spaces.