On the occasion of the cultural year of China in Italy promoted by the Chinese Ministry for Culture, IGAV (Garuzzo Institute for Visual Arts, Turin), UCCA (Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing), Triennale Design Museum and Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici del Piemonte present China New Design exhibition, held in two exhibition venues: MINI&Triennale CreativeSet of Triennale Design Museum in Milan and Palazzo Chiablese in Turin. After two cycles devoted to the new and young Italian design, the spaces of MINI&Triennale CreativeSet focus on New Far East Design, through a series of exhibitions on contemporary eastern design, providing the first of a number of showcases on the world to investigate and analyze the multifaceted scenery of new international design.

China New Design, curated by Jérôme Sans, director of Ucca and former manager and co-founder of Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and Cui Quiao, general manager of the Culture and Education Sector of UCCA, is the first of those important events and proposes a selection of the most interesting works of contemporary Chinese designers, many of whom have never been exhibited in Italy. The project is not only focussed on design: its real theme is the culture of young generations in China.

A rich and varied overview is provided, ranging from furniture design and including new forms of communication, from  fashion design to jewel design, from graphic design and multimedia solutions to interior design complements and decorations.

The items exhibited range from self-produced to mass produced items, from objects of arts to strictly industrial items. Cui Quiao explains his choices in terms of the curatorial work: “Curating a design exhibition in Italy is difficult because Italian design is characterized by excellent standards and the Italian public is made of experts. Design is everywhere in the daily lives of Italians.

The situation is completely different in China, where very few people are interested in design… The designers presented here have been selected from a series of exhibitions entitled “New Design” hosted last year by UCCA. When we selected the works, we focussed on their variety and did not only choose famous designers who were already known to the general public. Many designers have never been presented abroad. Some of them do not even have the chance to produce and market their works. But what is important is their potential.

We think that their expressive strength, still untouched by marketing, is precious and worth discovering. China New Design is not only an exhibition aimed at discovering the most interesting Chinese designers: rather – and above all – it is an occasion to have a privileged overview of contemporary Chinese culture, to try to understand not only the taste but also the projects and ambitions of a people whose economy is growing powerfully and is acting as a driving force for the rest of the world. 
IGAV, the official partner of the Cultural Year of China in Italy, appointed by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Italy 2010-2011, is a co-producer of the initiative.

List of Designers

Duo Xiang; Fei Jun; Feng Jiangzhou; Guang Yu; Hei Yiyang; Huang Rongfa; Isreading; Li Ruofan & Paul Gelinas; Liu Zhizhi; Moodtown; Neng Mao Store; Peng Yangjun & Chen Jiaojiao; Perk; Pisan; Ruan Qianrui; Song Tao; Sun Wentao; Teng Fei; Wang Shu; Wang Yiyang; Wu Fan; Wu Qiuyan; Xia Yu; Xie Dong; Yang Nude; Yumo; Yung Ho Chang; Zhang Da; Zhang Xiaochuan; Zhu Jinjing.