Helen Deng

    hneng_deng@qq.com

    AFTER two years of preparation, China’s biggest ever design exhibition, China Design Exhibition, opened in Shenzhen on Friday, offering locals the chance to view some of the best designs in modern China.

    The exhibition, co-organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Shenzhen Municipal Government, shows designs in four segments, namely product design, graphic design, space design and crossover design. The exhibited works come from all four sectors and are believed to be the best of the past four years.

    The exhibits include 644 works selected from more than 10,000 entries, plus dozens of works by members of the judge panel. They are shown at Shenzhen Civic Center, Lianhua Hill Park, and Guan Shanyue Art Museum. The exhibition will run until Feb. 26, 2013.

    Different from many design exhibitions, all the products on exhibition are already available on the market. “A good design must be aesthetically pleasing,” said Liu Guanzhong, an advisor to the exhibition and vice board director of the China Industrial Design Association.

    The “Space Design” segment is located on the first floor of Guan Shanyue Art Museum. The segment uses models and videos to demonstrate more than 50 projects in fields such as community, transport and shopping space. Projects are selected not only for their artistic beauty and usefulness, but also for signs that the designer has shown a social conscience. Liu Yi’s work “School for Children with Disabilities” was selected for its consideration for the needs of special children.

    At the second floor of Guan Shanyue Art Museum, one could see how creativity can make otherwise mundane products come to life. A metal chair named “Flow” by Zhong Wen, for example, has the appearance of flowing water. Zhang Lei and his co-workers designed a chair with bamboo paper.

    “Crossover” segment, shown at the Civiv Center and Lianhua Hill Park, is composed of highly diversified products. “Each project tells a unique story and every project is worth careful examination,” said Hang Jian, curator of the segment, which discusses how design work influences society.

    “A Harvest of Design,” designed by College of Design and Innovation of Tongji University and Shanghai Studio Tao, is a mini eco-system composed of dozens of plants and a jar of goldfish. The system can support itself for two months. The “Endless Bridge” project encourages Hong Kong and mainland college students to build bridges and other facilities for underprivileged areas.

    “Graphic Design” segment shows 265 graphic design works, including those that have become familiar symbols of China, such as the posters of Shanghai World Expo and Shenzhen Universiade. “Designers have been engaging more with current affairs and popular culture in recent years, which shows the rise of the profession’s status,” said Han Jiaying, one of the curators of the “Graphic Design” sector.

    The “Graphic Design” segment includes works by almost all the front-line graphic designers in Shenzhen, the birthplace of modern China’s graphic design industry. Zhang Dali, Bi Xuefeng, Zeng Jun, Liu Yongqing, Long Gang, Huang Yang, Ren Sisi, Chen Pingbo are among them.

    Time: Dec. 7, 2012-Feb. 26, 2013

    Venues: Shenzhen Civic Center, Lianhua Hill Park, and Guan Shanyue Art Museum