London Design Festival: Nanjing Week

By Rory Howard
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, September 23, 2016
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Nanjing Week first launched at the 2015 Milan Expo as a way to show the creativity coming from the ancient capital. After a successful start in Milan, Nanjing Municipal Government decided to continue the success by holding a Nanjing Week in different international cities. This year, Nanjing's key artists, designers, and performers are at the London Design Festival (September 21 to September 24).

The "Nanjing Week" opening ceremony gets underway at the British Library, London. Pan Guping (R), deputy director of Nanjing Municipal Government's Publicity Department, hands over a selection of donated books to Hamish Todd, head of the East Asia Collection at the British Library. [Photo by Wang Zhiyong / China.org.cn]



The theme for Nanjing Week in London is "Renowned Metropolis of Oriental Culture Meets Western Capital of Creativity."

A representative from the Organizing Committee of Nanjing City told the press that Nanjing Week will act as a window and platform for Nanjing culture. The event will link similarities between these "two great historical cities."

This year, England and China are commemorating their best playwrights, Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu, who both passed away 400 years ago. To commemorate Tang's life, a global-touring company that performs one of Tang's best-known plays, "Peony Pavilion," launched the Nanjing Week opening event with a performance of arias from the play.

The theatre company, called Peony Pavilion Revisited, will hold open air performances at London landmarks such as the London Eye and Trafalgar Square.

Other performances of Tang's work will be happening throughout Nanjing Week, including a show by directors Ke Jun and Leo Rubin that introduces characters from Shakespeare's classics into Tang's opera, "Handan Dream." This play, titled "A Shakespearean Handan Dream," will be staged at the Actors Church, Covent Garden, on September 22 and 23.

The event also hosted Nanjing artist, writer, and designer Zhu Yingchun, who has donated 10 books to the British Library.

Zhu's books teeter between art and literature. One volume donated to the British Library, is a study of "bug writing." Noticing how tracks left by bugs resemble Chinese characters, Zhu recorded around 10,000 such insect tracks into a type of faux-dictionary. The collection donated to the British Library also includes Zhu's original poetry, stories, and art.

Nanjing Week at the London Design Festival is not limited to books and operas; numerous other events and exhibits will be held throughout London.

From September 21 to September 24, the 100% Design Exhibition at Kensington Olympia will host a Nanjing Pavilion curated by designer and academic, Zhang Ming. The Nanjing Pavilion will display the cream of homeware design coming out of Nanjing.

Nanjing Week will also have a special exhibition space next to Tower Bridge. Curators will introduce, for the first time in London, the innovative design space Movilla. Movilla is a unique mobile, multi-purpose space solution created by one of Nanjing's best young designers. The space is eco-friendly, with energy generating solar panels and energy and water saving features.

Nanjing Week will have over 20 culture and design activities throughout London, including traditional Chinese musicians, woodblock printing workshops, Chinese food stalls and souvenir stalls.

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