Cao Zhen caozhen0806@126.com A SWISS army knife is on display next to an 18th-century Iranian astrolabe; an ancient Egyptian water filter is placed alongside a modern e-cigarette; and a Teddy Ruxpin sits beside an iPhone. These are some paired items at the “Values of Design” exhibition in the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum’s newest gallery in Shenzhen. The paralleled items look irrelevant to each other at first glance, but in fact they are connected by contracting qualities such as whether they represent “useful combinations or impractical overload,” like in the case of the multi-functional astrolabe and SwissChamp. The contrast between “healthy design or designed placebo” is why the curators put a water filter and an e-cigarette together: The former protected people from drinking dust and insects while the latter is labeled as a “healthy” alternative to smoking (although no such evidence exists). The “Values of Design” exhibition, opened Dec. 2 at the V&A Gallery inside Design Society|Sea World Culture and Arts Center, is not a traditional design exhibition, focusing on the latest contraptions or priceless relics, but aims to question how people measure the value of things and in turn how values shape the way people design. Drawing from the V&A’s extensive collection in London, the exhibition features over 250 objects from 900 to the present. The collections of fashion, furniture, product and graphic design are categorized into sections like performance, cost, materials, wonder, identity and problem solving, all forming the values of design. It brings together the best examples of uniquely-designed products, such as the calamari-shaped Juicy Salif, a meticulous Christian Dior evening dress, and the weird Lathe Chair VIII. “The exhibition is not just about design, nor just about collections. It’s about the impact collections and designs have on the real world, on jobs, on manufacturing, on business,” said Tim Reeve, deputy director and COO of the V&A in London. According to Reeve, the V&A’s inaugural exhibition in Shenzhen is the result of three years of extensive research and cross-cultural dialogue between the V&A team, Design Society team and academic, museum and creative professionals in China. Since 2014, the V&A has sent experts, including Luisa Elena Mengoni, now the V&A Gallery head, to Shenzhen to provide professional advice and training to the Design Society|Sea World Culture and Arts Center project. The center was established by China Merchants Shekou and operated by Design Society, a new cultural platform with a mission to activate design as a social catalyst. In developing the exhibition, the V&A also includes items specifically acquired from Shenzhen, such as a DJI drone, the WeChat phone app and a Shenzhen middle school uniform, to show the way Shenzhen is rapidly changing. “The exhibition is embedded in the Shenzhen context. It steers the possibilities for reinterpreting the V&A collection and tells us a new story,” said Ole Bouman, director of Design Society. With the opening of the center, two other design-themed exhibitions are also being held on the first floor. If the “Values of the Design” exhibition in the V&A Gallery looks static, the “Minding the Digital” exhibition in the Main Gallery is more interactive, bringing visitors into a novel world of immersive experiences shaped by digital technologies. It explores how design mediates between technology and core human values by displaying a cross-disciplinary array of designs by over 50 established practitioners. To ensure a wider audience will understand the “Minding the Digital” exhibition, the staff listed a glossary of technical explanations, such as “algorithm,” “biomimetic design,” “computer numerical control” and “selective laser sintering,” in Chinese and English in the booklets. An array of chic chairs in various materials illustrates the importance of algorithms and digital fabrication tools in generating new forms, which were previously unachievable. The sound-sensitive or air-driven garments of the “Interactive Dress Series” can smartly respond to spectators’ expressions. The reactive “Sharevari” brass musical installation illustrates the growing connections between us and design objects and interfaces. Bouman stressed that exhibition and collection are not the final goals for modern museums, so educational programs and public events will be added in the future. The former director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, also the creative director of the 2013 Bi-City Biennale of UrbanismArchitecture (UABB), has been based in Shenzhen since 2015 to prepare the project. His team aims to make Design Society an open and collaborative platform to encourage dialogues and connections. The waterfront Sea World center, which also includes other cultural organizations, galleries, lifestyle stores, a coffee shop and a roof park, was designed by Japanese Pritzker Architecture prize-winner Fumihiko Maki. “Nurturing Dreams in Recent Work: Fumihiko Maki + Maki and Associates,” one of the three inaugural exhibitions, provides an insight into the mind of Maki and hones in on his architectural principles and philosophy of design. Minding the Digital Dates: Until June 3, 2018 Values of Design Dates: Until Aug. 4, 2019 Nurturing Dreams in Recent Work Dates: Until June 30, 2018 Hours: Sunday-Thursday: 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday: 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Tickets: 80 yuan for “Minding the Digital” + “Values of Design”; 40 yuan or free for seniors, children, students, teachers, military personnel and the disabled; free for “Nurturing Dreams in Recent Work” Venue: Design Society|Sea World Culture and Arts Center, 1187 Wanghai Road, Shekou, Nanshan District (南山区蛇口望海路1187号设计互联|海上世界文化艺术中心) Metro: Line 2, Sea World Station (海上世界站), Exit A | 