Meridians Shanghai 2010: Art & Sound in Public Space  Meridians Shanghai 2010: Art & Sound in Public Space Project (Meridians) was an international collaboration between RMIT University (RMIT), Melbourne, Australia and East China Normal University (ECNU), Shanghai, China to create an installation of urban contemporary public artworks in Shanghai, China for the official Victorian Cultural Program towards Australia's contribution to Expo 2010 Shanghai China. In 2008 ECNU invited RMIT to develop a collaborative public art project. In early 2009 the RMIT Design Research Institute - Intervention through Art's Seeding Grant Program provided funding for the original Australian project team to travel to Shanghai, China to develop the project concept. The RMIT project team identified curatorial themes of ‘environmental sustainability’ and 'urban creative nature' for the project. These themes reflected the interests of the team's researchers and also corresponded to Expo 2010 Shanghai China's theme of 'Better City, Better Life'. Through the artistic exploration of the curatorial themes the project reinforced connections between public urban contemporary art and international collaborative practices between China and Australia in a university research context. The project was titled 'meridians’ because the word has multiple definitions that relate to points of connection in geography, astronomy, mathematics and Chinese medicine  Selecting a title that emphasized points of connection actively reflected the project's interdisciplinary interests; international collaboration between geographic places; and connections between the project team. Expo 2010 Shanghai China involved over 170 nations and ran from 1 May to 31 October 2010 and expected attendance by over 70 million people. The theme "Better City, Better Life" symbolised the common wish that better living standards will be available to all global citizens in years to come. On behalf of the Australian Government the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) managed the Australia Pavilion. The Victorian State Government's participation included "Victoria Week" (17–23 May) a week of activities which promoted trade and investment in a range of Victorian industry sectors including Arts and Culture. The Meridians project was selected as one of only two official satellite projects for the Government of Victoria (Australia)'s Cultural Program towards Australia's contribution to Expo 2010 Shanghai China. The Meridians project team was made up of artists and researchers from RMIT and ECNU universities. The Australian project team included RMIT artists and researchers: Geoff Hogg, Clare Leporati, Tammy Wong, Rupa Ramanathan, Robin Dick, Claire Tracey, Joanna Buckley and Greg Szopa.