Bicycle, high-speed rail, smart suitcase: Chinese design past, present and future on show
- A history of modern Chinese design in 70 objects – that was how curator Fan Zhe approached the task of showcasing the country’s creativity to Europeans
- From the ‘not always beautiful’ objects of post-war years to modern consumers’ demand for quality and uniqueness, exhibition shows Chinese design’s advance
It may have a population of 1.4 billion and the world’s second largest economy, but China’s design scene is still relatively unknown abroad. A showcase at the St Étienne International Design Biennial in France – whose theme is “Me/You/Nous: Designing Common Ground” – aims to change that.
“We wanted people to realise that China is not just a country that produces and copies,” says Lisa White, curator of the biennale. “It is now a country that designs and creates.”
For France-based artist Fan Zhe, director of the Sino-French Contemporary Art Centre in Le Chambon sur Lignon in central France and curator of the Chinese contribution to the biennale (which continues to April 21), it’s about opening a window on Chinese culture and society.
“I wanted to introduce the European public to Chinese design and show them how we live. That’s why I haven’t focused on limited or rare design pieces but rather on consumer goods and items that people use every day.”
His exhibition is called Équilibre (“balance” in English) because it’s a notion at the heart of Chinese culture. “We have 5,000 years of history in China, and though at times our history has been interrupted, our culture carries on. We always try to find balance between nature and man, between the different cultures present in the country, and so on.”