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Nanjing in the spotlight at Expo Milano

By Fu Chao | China Daily Europe | Updated: 2015-07-03 07:23
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Ancient city of Jiangsu province to showcase its cultural heritage and modern creative industries

Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu province, will present its symbolic culture through exhibitions and performances from July 7 to 13 at Expo Milano 2015.

The World Expo, hosted by Milan this year, began on May 1 and will close on Oct 30.

 

Above: A "treasure box" of Nanjing local arts in front of Milan central station. Below: Yunjin brocade imperial robe. Photos provided to China Daily

The ancient city of Nanjing is famed for its long history as the capital of China in many periods. It is also a city with booming creative industries. The events at Expo Milano 2015, titled Nanjing Week, will introduce the city's traditional crafts such as yunjin brocade, the ancient city wall of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Kunqu Opera. It will also present the city's dynamic art scene and creations from local emerging artists.

The main venues for the exhibitions will be the City Pavilion and the outdoor space at the Piazza Duca d'Aosta.

The major venue is a 170-square-meter exhibition hall in the pavilion with transparent glass walls. It is here that the Jixiang brand of yunjin brocade will be displayed.

During the day, the walls of the glass hall are covered with curtains made of yunjin brocade patches. When night falls, the curtains are rolled up and a projector inside the hall will project the displayed brocade artworks and introduction texts on the glass walls.

Another exhibition highlight is the "treasure box of Nanjing local arts". There will be six rooms of 15 sq meter on the Piazza Duca d'Aosta, each containing small exhibitions of works from local artists and the city's intangible cultural heritage items.

One "treasure box" is devoted to a group of artists with mental disabilities from the Nanjing Tiancheng Outsider Art Center, a nonprofit organization that gives people who are suffering or have suffered from mental health disorders a chance to paint.

Inside this particular "box", artworks from four of the center's artists will be shown. Each piece of work will be displayed in front of a small cabinet containing personal belongings of the artist, including photos of when he or she was creating the work, tools used and something important to the artist during the creation process. The concept of the cabinet is to let the audience learn more about the artists and pay more attention to them as individuals.

On July 10, a one-day event, Creative Nanjing, will celebrate the establishment of the Nanjing-Milan Creative Center at the Expo Gate in downtown Milan. That morning, the Nanjing Yunjin Brocade Research Institute will display a new version of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa made from yunjin brocade.

The brocade version is 11 times larger than the original oil painting. Its display at the event will be its world premier, as a salute from Nanjing to the great masterpiece.

The event will invite college students and teachers, as well as associations in design and related fields in Milan to join a discussion during the exhibition of the Mona Lisa-inspired artwork.

In the afternoon, there will be an opening ceremony for the center, as well as seminars and a media conference. Excerpts from the famous Kunqu Opera, The Peony Pavilion, will be presented.

Another yunjin brocade artwork that will make its debut during Nanjing Week is a Chinese imperial robe. Together with other yunjin brocade-related collections from the Nanjing Yunjin Brocade Research Institute, the robe will be displayed in the glass hall of the China Pavilion. Yunjin master Guo Jun will also demonstrate classic techniques of yunjin brocade making in the exhibition hall.

A yunjin brocade fashion show will be presented at La Pelota in Milan on July 13. Models will showcase 40 costumes made of the brocade. The patterns on the costumes are inspired by the ancient city wall of the Ming Dynasty, a must-see tourist spot in Nanjing; traditional street scenes of ancient Nanjing; and the natural landscapes depicted in some ancient poems and essays.

Lighting effects will make the stage floor look like the Qinhuai River, the most renowned tourist spot in Nanjing.

Famous German composer of new Chinese music, Robert Zollitsch, was invited to produce the music for the show. Chinese folk singer Gong Linna, Zollitsch's wife, will sing one of her unique fusion songs, which use standard voices from Chinese opera along with imitations of traditional Chinese instruments.

 

Models will showcase yunjin brocade at La Pelota in Milan on July 13.

(China Daily European Weekly 07/03/2015 page30)

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