The Old City of Shanghai has become a photo-taking magnet. Why? Because an artist has transformed one of its streets into a feline avenue, festooned with cat murals.
Shanghai-born artist and cartoonist Gao Youjun, better known as Tango, has pasted more than 30 images of pet cats owned by local families on walls along Fangbang Middle Road.
The feline images were enlarged to fit three-metre-tall walls, making them look much larger than the people posing next to them. Tango says by doing so, he hopes to let visitors see "a cat's perspective".
The Old City was located on the banks of the river in today's Huangpu District. The cartoonist says that the idea of making cat murals was inspired by stray cats he saw while walking along the street.
"These cats might have never left Huangpu District," Tango says. "They are the real Shanghainese."
One major difficulty he found was taking good photos of stray cats. Hence he decided to use pet cats instead. In addition, Tango painted 30 funny feline cartoons on the walls.
Drawing daily cartoons
Tango shot to fame by posting daily cartoons on Weibo since 2010. He now has over 1.6 million followers on the social media platform.
On March 11, 2011, when a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan's coast, Tango painted two cats, one putting its paw around the other's shoulder. On the cats' backs, he painted the maps of Japan and China, writing above them: "Add oil, Japan!"
Both Yahoo News Japan and China Central Television reported on his cartoon.
A cat lover himself, Tango keeps three cats at home. His exhibition of feline cartoons has travelled to many Chinese cities since 2021. On why he enjoys painting cats so much, he says: "Cats are healing animals."
Statues and sculptures
Other than the feline murals, Tango also installed inflatable statues of cats and sculptures of the animals. Visitors can interact with them in the squares near Yuyuan Shopping Mall.
His exhibition is part of the third annual Bund Art Festival, an event that features Chinese and international artworks in interaction with the street views of Shanghai's Old City.
People in Shanghai are familiar with seeing large portraits in their city environment. In 2010, a French artist called JR pasted the faces of elderly Shanghai people on the walls of the city's old buildings. It was part of his "Wrinkles of the City" art project around the world.
Fun facts
An adult cat can jump up to five times its own height, to about 1.8 metres high. Imagine if you had the same ability! What gives a cat this amazing jumping power is the strength of its back legs.
Quick questions
- Do you prefer cats or dogs, or some other animal?
- What other giant photos have been seen on walls in Shanghai?
- Why did Tango find it hard to photograph stray cats?
