- Title: UK: Exhibition showcasing modern face of China opens in London
- Date: 22nd March 2008
- Summary: ZHANG HONGXING, CURATOR OF CHINA DESIGN NOW EXHIBITION AT V&A MUSEUM, WITH REUTERS REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZHANG HONGXING, CURATOR OF CHINA DESIGN NOW EXHIBITION AT V&A MUSEUM, SAYING: " I felt a sense of real passion to understand more about my country and people who are living through this drastic period of changes which I, fortunately or unfortunately, are not with them, that really drives me in this project, to know more about them. To know more about how they cope with the change, whether they really rise or fall in that change." VARIOUS OF DRESSES ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) ZHANG HONGXING, CURATOR OF CHINA DESIGN NOW EXHIBITION AT V&A MUSEUM, SAYING: "I think that there is a generalisation in the West about this freedom of expression (in China). From 1980s, I lived in China and in '80s I grew up in China. From the 1980s, they start to have freedom of artistic expression, if we use that. And of course, some still, there is taboo and particularly in the political sphere and political areas, there are things you can't talk about. But in terms of the creative, in terms of the artistic, there is massive space, freedom of expression and which I think is one of the things that we try to get across and which perhaps is also common ground and for Chinese and people in the West to build dialogue, to really collaborate and to really move China forward." PAIR OF MULTI-COLOURED SHOES PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING CHINESE FAMILY IN SPORTSWEAR PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING CHINESE FAMILY IN SUIT VARIOUS OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHINESE WOMAN IN APARTMENT VARIOUS OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHINESE WOMAN WITH TEAR RUNNING DOWN ONE EYE
- Embargoed: 6th April 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations,Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVA1XUMPM1UG2XC9J6YMDYXY24E5
- Story Text: A major exhibition opens at London's Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum exploring the recent boom in new design and architecture in China. It is the first of its kind in the UK to attempt to understand the impact of rapid economic development on China's major cities.
A major exhibition at London's V&A (Victoria and Albert) museum opens on Saturday (March 15), exploring how rapid economic development has influenced contemporary Chinese design and architecture.
The 'China Design Now' exhibition focuses on three raidly expanding cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen - and displays the work of both Chinese and international designers, focusing on architecture, fashion, design and youth culture as well as film, photography and digital media. Around 100 designers are featured, more than ninety-five percent of whom are Chinese.
The exhibition is in three sections and structured around the idea of a journey from south to north along China's east coast through Shenzhen (China's manufacturing capital) to Shanghai and Beijing. Each city is a starting point for the exploration of different design fields - graphic design and visual culture in Shenzhen, fashion and lifestyle in Shanghai, and architecture and the city in Beijing.
Ole Scheeren, partner at architecture firm OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) which co-designed the sensational new headquarters for CCTV (China Central Television) in Beijing with world-renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, said that Asian countries were embracing modern architecture as their economies expanded.
"It was indeed a very specific moment in history when suddenly Asia had more skyscrapers built, more skyscrapers than the West. So, a typology that had initially been built in the West had been more successfully adopted, if you like, by Asia as it's own triumphalist sign of modernisation," Scheeren told Reuters Television.
The CCTV tower is 230 metres high and designed in the shape of a 3D chinese character. It contains a steel structure in the shape of a continuous loop up and around the building, with no right angles. Inside, there is a 'media village', and a public viewing gallery.
Another Beijing landmark is the National Stadium (nicknamed the 'birds nest'), the venue for the 2008 Summer Olympics and designed by Herzog & de Meuron as well as Digital Beijing.
Beijing also boasts the world's biggest airport after the new Capital Airport extension, designed by British-based firm Foster and Partners and costing USD 3.6 billion, opened last month.
The China Design Now exhibition has been curated by Zhang Hongxing and Lauren Parker of the V&A. It took four years of research and Chinese-born Zhang told Reuters that the theme of change and how it influenced the culture in his native country was his prime motivation for getting involved in the project.
"I felt a sense of real passion to understand more about my country and people who are living through this drastic period of changes which I, fortunately or unfortunately, are not with them, that really drives me in this project, to know more about them. To know more about how they cope with the change, whether they really rise or fall in that change," Zhang said.
Zhang added that Western perceptions that freedom was suppressed in China were not entirely accurate. He said that although political freedom was still a highly sensitive matter, artists and designers enjoyed more creative freedom than is widely believed.
"Of course, some still, there is taboo and particularly in the political sphere and political areas, there are things you can't talk about.
But in terms of the creative, in terms of the artistic, there is massive space, freedom of expression and which I think is one of the things that we try to get across and which perhaps is also common ground and for Chinese and people in the West to build dialogue, to really collaborate and to really move China forward," said Zhang.
Among the exhibits being showcased are designer toys and trainers appealing to China's design conscious youth, avant-garde fashion evoking 1930s Shanghai chic and photographs from the 'Great Family Aspiration' series by Weng Fun and the 'Shanghai Living' series by Hu Yang, documenting the living rooms of Shanghai residents from the newly wealthy to migrants to the city.
The China Design Now exhibition runs from March 15 to July 13. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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