Newman Huo

ZHANG KAIQIN, a native of Yunnan Province, decided to move to Shenzhen after she graduated with a master’s degree in studio art from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the United States in June this year.

“Meilin was the only reason for me to move to Shenzhen because I landed a job here with the Shenzhen Sculpture Academy,” Zhang said.

She is now working on a creative project to show what Meilin in Futian District looks like through the eyes of a young female sculptor.

“I’m planning to look for three people in the Meilin area to ask them to give me something they want to throw away,” Zhang said, “I will also ask them why they want to get rid of those things and what they dream of having most.”

Based on interviews and articles she collects, Zhang will create her work which will be displayed at a presentation, “Discovering Shenzhen: Exploring Meilin,” at the Art de Vivre in the Sculpture Home, Futian District on Oct. 31 this year.

Following “Discovering Shenzhen: Exploring Dongmen” in June this year, the “Discovering Shenzhen: Exploring Meilin” is the second creative event organized by Riptide, a private non-profit organization.

Beginning with a two-day workshop at the Art de Vivre on Sept. 11 and 12 this year, the event has drawn nine Chinese and expatriate artists from different fields who will aim to rediscover the Meilin area through various creative means, such as photography, video, sculpture, music, performance, and multimedia.

Yao Xu, 57, a Shenzhen-based filmmaker and director, said he and two other directors, Tang Jiaxiang and Yu Shaolin, planned to shoot a documentary film, titled “Ten Meters Deep at Night,” to capture the “unique landscape around the Sculpture Home area and its underlying spirit and ethos.”

The three directors joined the short film competition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in March this year with their 12-minute film, “The Funeral of Grandpa Xia.”

“With the Art de Vivre as its core, the Sculpture Home houses more than 100 design companies,” Yao said.

“After nightfall, the Sculpture Home area becomes a unique scene with designers working quietly in their offices and vehicles roaring past on Beihuan Thoroughfare,” he said.

Regarding the Sculpture Home area as a showcase of Shenzhen, Yao said he and his co-workers were looking for several design companies and truck drivers in the area to record their work in a documentary film.

Aiming to promote creative events in Shenzhen, Riptide was established by the Shekou-based French landscape designer Michael Patte and his Chinese colleague Gigi Liang in February this year. They called the series of creative city exploration “Coaster Raid.”

For every Coaster Raid event, nine designers, artists and intellectuals from diverse fields will be chosen to create works of art about a particular area in Shenzhen.

Presentation

“Discovering Shenzhen:

Exploring Meilin”

Date: 7-10 p.m., Oct. 31

Tickets: Free admission

Add: Art de Vivre in the Sculpture Home, 8 Zhongkang Road, Shangmeilin, Futian District (福田区上梅林中康路8号雕塑家园)