A visitor is seen at UpperHills shopping mall in Futian District, the main venue of Shenzhen Design Week, on Saturday. The event opened Saturday and will last through Jan. 3. Xinhua
The 2021 Shenzhen Design Week, themed “Design as Solution,” held its opening at UpperHills in Futian District on Saturday afternoon, kicking off a design extravaganza that will last through Jan. 3, 2022.
Zhang Ling, head of the Publicity Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPC, and Vice Mayor Zhang Hua attended the ceremony.
The 10-day event, with its main venue in UpperHills, also has other exhibition venues citywide, turning itself into a “party of design,” an “exhibition of frontier” and a “collection of ideas.”
Zhang Ling said in a speech that Shenzhen Design Week, now in its fifth year, has evolved into an essential platform for promoting the city’s image, developing innovative industries, incubating creative talents and living a better life. It has become Shenzhen’s brilliant cultural calling card.
For the first time, the design week has introduced a joint curator system under the professional guidance from an academic committee and the organizing committee’s leadership.
An appointment ceremony for academic members and joint curators was held at the opening ceremony, where the “Design of China, Witness in Shenzhen” declaration was issued.
Shenzhen Global Design Award, the heavyweight component of the design week, will run all year in 2022. It will launch a series of activities around the world, including brand promotion, design space creation and global work collection and selection, and set up several awards.
The design week’s major visual sign “S” is elegantly merged with the main venue in different forms and hues, inviting residents to engage in the design feast. The design week provides visitors with an immersive experience with more than 20 exhibition programs in five major sections, over 300 pieces of work and eight thematic forums.
At the main venue, citizens can enjoy not only designer Chu Chih Kang’s imposing installation named “Kunpeng,” but also fun and interactive installations like Manfred Yuen’s “The Naughty Fairy Mountain,” Hong Ko’s “Go Shining Kids Passing Through the Ancient Capital” and Shi Dayu’s “Bamboo Dance Bamboo Play, Stillness.”
According to Yuen, his fairy mountain work incorporates lighting, music and multimedia animation to create an environment where visitors can run, jump, play, slide and chase each other, and allows adults to return to their childhood while the children are still children.