During the year 2008 Shanghai held various artistic exhibitions displaying various different artists from the Asian areas as well as others from around the world.

The theme of the 2008 Shanghai art shows season was translocalmotion or in lemans terms urbanization. Art exhibits not only displayed paintings but also sculpture type artists as well. One of these sculpture exhibits was by Yan Maoyuan. Yan's exhibition was titled "Look Inside" depicting various forms of contemporary sculpture. Generally all of the art that was seen in the 2008 shows were based on contemporary themes. Each and every one of these exhibitions were held at various venues around Shanghai. The typical art season in Shanghai would have opened in early September and ended in mid November.