The Prelude Exhibition of The First Shanghai Graphic Design Biennale – TopoPoster: International Poster Design Exhibition, after six months (June – December, 2025) of planning and preparation, was successfully held from December 13 to December 22, 2025. As one of the larger-scale exhibitions in recent years featuring an international selection of works in China, it showcased over 300 representative poster designs from 153 influential contemporary designers and studios active in the forefront of the field across 28 countries.

BEYOND

The poster is a marketplace of tongues a souq of sound and smoke
a place where alphabets brush shoulders and trade glances
Latin whispers to Arabic in the shade of a red monolith
a pile of books standing upright like a silent witness to the heat
Tíscar Espadas and JVDW come together in the rhythm of dust and fabric
Nicolas Dimitri’s camera wandering through Marrakeshc
two figures moving toward a tree that might existc
or might only shimmer in the mind Celia Espadas brings the desert to Düsseldorfc
bodies tracing the memory of that meeting
between sun and moon between breath and ink The letters are drawn to echo the pulse of the streetc
grey tones soft like smoke over tiled stone
a mix of voices cultures gesturesc
the poster not a statement but an invitation
to meet there where language turns to rhythm and form becomes a dream beyond

Massimiliano Audretsch

audretsch.it

@massimiliano_________audretsch