Italian photographer Daniele Mattioli resides in Shanghai with a concept, a camera and a whole hell of a lot of subject matter sprawling around him. His exhibition which starts tonight (July 17th), marks the opening of the Italian Cultural Affairs Office. Firstly, the concept: Mattioli views Shanghai as a microcosmic forerunner for China's cultural and social existence as a whole, and its development into modernity and beyond. His China is one which, while having taken a cue from western-style modern living, will eventually supersede it. This it will do by cutting out the western tendency towards decadency. That may all sound a bit much for one man to capture with a camera but one glance at this exhibition might make you think twice. Secondly, the camera: his 'through-a-lens' version of Shanghai and modern China, is shot through with a wicked sense of irony where history and future collide in a snapshot. The works focus on contradictions in the daily lives of Shanghailanders putting a new perspective on things we take for granted.