Event boosts goal to become cultural hub

The second International Art Biennale - Cosmopolis#1.5: Enlarged Intelligence, kicked off in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, on Nov 2.

Following the first staging of the biennale in Paris in 2017, held by the Centre Georges Pompidou, a multicultural art museum, this is the first on-site event organized by the high-profile French art institution in China.

"The reason we chose to hold the biennale in Chengdu is that we hope to help the event to find a suitable soil outside Paris," said Serge Lasvignes, the president of the Centre Georges Pompidou.

Lasvignes said that after their investigation, they thought Chengdu was a perfect choice and their decision was fully supported by the local people.

Compared with the first biennale held in Paris in 2017, the second one in Chengdu has further expanded the edge of cross-field communications and cooperation with artists all over the world, according to a Chengdu official.

However, the biennale is just one of many international cultural activities held in Chengdu this year.

Chengdu's leaders are anxious to transform the city into a place world famous for its culture, and have therefore welcomed a large number of cultural and artistic events to settle there. As a result, more and more high-profile cultural and artistic resources are gathering in the city.

The 2018 Chengdu Creativity and Design Week held from Nov 9 to 12 is another example.

As a significant platform for exploring and incubating creative industries in Chengdu, the design week attracted more than 1,000 organizations engaged in creative design from 30 countries and regions such as Germany, Britain, Italy, Denmark, Israel, Canada and Japan.

The participants brought more than 23,000 artworks to present to the audience, with the ideal of creating a better life through creative design.

According to a report issued by the Beijing-based mobile news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, Chengdu ranks top among the major Chinese cities in terms of the public awareness about its creative culture industry, with 28.94 percent growth.

On Nov 13, Chengdu joined hands with New York to launch a fashion feast - Chengdu International Fashion Week 2018 - the first pan-fashion innovation event covering fashion and lifestyle in China.

During the six-day event, fashion business insiders had top-level meetings in Chengdu. Some of the first-tier fashion brands launched the release of their 2019 spring series at the event. The city also signed a number of cooperation agreements in the fashion industry.

Another prominent example is the 2018 Chengdu Global Events Summit, which opened in Chengdu on Nov 13.

More than 10 top managers who are engaged in the performing arts, education, film and television and music sectors attended the event and shared their expertise in the development of the creative industries.

Since ancient times, Chengdu has been known as "the city of abundance" and culture is in the city's DNA.

According to an official, its modern-day cultural and artistic events have opened up the city to the world's attention. Others say the city is worthy of that attention.

"I fell in love with Chengdu at first sight. I am impressed by the culture and architecture here. If the city can be more integrated into the fashion sector, it will become a precious experience," said Simon Collins, the ex-dean of the Fashion School at Parson's New School for Design in the United States.

Collins noted that among the many Chinese cities that have inspired him, the practice of Chengdu's landmark Taikoo Li, which combines the traditional culture and modern fashion in a perfect way, is a highlight.

Collins said that he has visited many cities in China and finally picked Chengdu as the place to open his design college. He said its unique culture is the key factor in his decision.

Jerome Scola, the chief strategy officer of the Slush Global Venture Capital Conference, said that for him, Chengdu is an intimate city, reminding him of Paris.

"Chengdu has a temperament combining traditional culture with modern fashion, which is very precious," he said.

Leading businessmen have also been charmed by the city.

"Chengdu is a charming city, a vibrant city, and a city with happiness and taste. More importantly, Chengdu is a city with a full range of potential for future development," said Wu Jiaming, vicepresident of Chinese Culture Group Co.

The staging of a series of international cultural and artistic activities not only underscores the elegant and fashionable temperament of Chengdu, but also shows the city's ambitions to speed up its evolution into a world famous cultural hub.

With its unique culture, Chengdu is building itself into a world metropolis with strength in fields including culture and technology, fashion and design, art and music and tourism and exhibition - paving the way for it to become a "world renowned culture city".

(China Daily 11/29/2018 page12)