The article focuses on 2010 Shanghai Biennale executive curator Gao Shiming and on his idea of rehearsal as the event's conceptual framework. It notes that the concept aimed to encourage participants to reconsider their roles in the social construct of the art biennial and has been mapped out with a program collaborated with several organizations including Performa, Manifesta and Long March Project. It adds that Gao began his career at the China Academy of Art (CAA) in Huangzhou, China in 2002.