As the borders of “home” are constantly redrawn by global forces, it serves as a powerful metaphor for a world itself in a state of fragmentation and renewal. How, then, might artists use visual language to interrogate this parallel process?

On November 6, the Shanghai Museum of Glass presented Homecrossing: Glass Project, a new exhibition under this year’s “Annealing” program. As one of the pioneering multimedia artists, Muntadas has been recognized since the 1970s for his incisive observations on social structures and communication mechanisms shaped by globalization. His work spans video, text, architecture, and publishing, probing the intricate relationships among power, information, and perception.

In May 2024, Muntadas was invited to a residency at the Shanghai Museum of Glass to develop the conceptual foundation for the exhibition. Through conversations with the museum team and field research across Shanghai, he explored the dual nature of glass—both transparent and divisive, reflective and obstructive, and positions it as an essential medium for investigating the boundaries of home. Muntadas conceived three new works during this residency. Life is Editing, a neon installation produced in glass, confronts visitors at the entrance like a prompt or alert, questioning the structures through which we construct meaning. A constellation of colored glass houses reflects Muntadas’ observation on rare earth politics, international power dynamics, and the tension between geopolitical interests and private life. Glass plates engraved bilingually with Life is Editing/生命即编辑 mimic editorial markings, playfully addressing the act of navigating multiple linguistic and cultural contexts.

Anchoring the exhibition is Home, Where is Home? (1990), in which public and private references of “home” are staged inside a glass house. Here, Muntadas sees “home/house” as both psychological and architectural space, constructed and contested by information society and consumer culture. In this sense, “home” becomes a site where intimacy intersects with politics, and where visibility, fragility, and belonging converge.

The exhibition is structured around four distinct perspectives—“Micro Communication,” “Being in Translation,” “Contested Communal Space,” and “Archetypal Architecture”. By juxtaposing Muntadas’ works from the 1970s with his newly commissioned ones, it offers some reflections on the genealogy of conceptual art practice. The exhibition ultimately asks: In the overlapping contexts of tradition and contemporaneity, what forces are remaking “home” today? And can “home” still serve as a space of resilience, intimacy, and dialogue amid uncertainty?

Curated by Su Wei. With special support from the Shanghai International Culture Association.