Cultural events add more color to autumn season
This autumn is highlighted by two cultural events in Hangzhou – the 15th China Cultural and Creative Industry Expo and the Asia Design Management Forum & Art Design Media Festival (ADM).
The expo is being from November 2 to 8 on the Douyin and Dongjia Shouyiren (东家手艺人) app platforms. The offline portion has been canceled due to the recent COVID-19 impact.
The online expo offers platforms for trade and talent exchange. Exhibitors from 30 countries and regions will showcase their design, ingenuity and creativity during the week-long event.
Last year, the organizing committee cooperated with Douyin to cash in on the livestreaming trend to boost cultural and creative industries. Many brands turned to Internet celebrities to promote sales via livestreaming, which turned out popular among audiences. The activity accrued over 930 million views cumulatively.
This year, the expo's theme is "Creative Hangzhou, Linking the World." The online expo is divided into six different zones, including Cultural Themes, Creative Design, Museums, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Farming and Creativity Exchange.
Visitors purchase organic products at a YYO stall at the Asia Design Management Forum & Art Design Media Festival.
For years, the expo has been a spotlight of the cultural and creative industries, attracting a cavalcade of domestic exhibitors searching for opportunities. This year is no exception. Exhibitors from Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces will set up online booths showing their latest designs.
First held in 2007, the expo has become one of the four largest cultural and creative trade shows in China. The others are in Beijing, Shenzhen in Guangdong Province and Yiwu in Zhejiang Province.
The ADM ended on November 2. The venue of the annual festival is at the Hangzhou Boiler Group, former Hangzhou Boiler Works Factory which was built in the 1950s. It has been reserved as a part of the city's historical industrial remains and remodeled into an exhibition venue.
The ADM was initiated in 2013 and has since become a grand occasion for chic young people. This year, the event was themed "Design as a Mission," accommodating about 200 companies and designer brands across China.
Based in Shenzhen, XIVO Design set up a branch in Hangzhou this year in efforts to develop the potential market in the Yangtze River Delta region. The company considered the ADM an ideal platform to introduce itself to Hangzhou's residents.
"Honestly, we are a well-publicized brand in Shenzhen. However, many residents in eastern China haven't heard of us. We hope to develop more clients, and the ADM offers us a channel," said Fang Caixia, a designer from XIVO Design.
At the exhibition, XIVO Design displayed their chic designs from small kitchen appliances and shavers to portable chargers and small stereo speakers. For instance, their portable charger is designed like a chocolate bar. Different from ordinary counterparts, their designs are used as ornaments for hip youth.
Portable chargers made by XIVO Design look like chocolate bars.
Showcased are chic electric shavers of XIVO Design.
For years, the ADM has focused on commercial projects and invigorating rural economies. A group of cultural companies has been invited to show their innovative ideas in reviving villages.
YYO Farm is a farmhouse in northern Zhejiang's Mogan Mountain. It produces high-quality vegetables and grains that are increasingly popular among customers preferring organic food.
At the exhibition, the farmhouse moved a plot of paddy field to the site, making visitors feel like they were stepping into a pastoral land.
As camping becomes more popular among urban residents, the farmhouse has carved out an area for pitching tents. Additionally, people could pick fruits in an orchard and experience harvesting paddies in the field. The farm also welcomed children to feed animals as it raises alpacas, sheep and cows.
Due to the unprecedented speed of urbanization, more urban residents glorify rural life and seek to experience a few idyllic days in villages. In recent years, the ADM has seen more farm brands develop in Zhejiang's rural areas, and YYO is emblematic of the farmhouses springing out in the course of urbanization.
Organic food including vegetables and grains from YYO Farm are on display.
