“What I want to do is to inherit and preserve culture. These traditional crafts are treasures in China, and the skills of the old masters cannot be lost.” said Zheng Zhigang, CEO of New World Development Co., Ltd., founder and chairman of K11 Group, “Maybe in Most people think that knowing Chinese history is enough, but in fact, traditional craftsmanship should be educated and embraced, it is an extension of Chinese history and can be seen.”
Figure 1 Zheng Zhigang, Chief Executive Officer of New World Development Co., Ltd., Founder and Chairman of K11 Group
From September 9th to November 13th, the first immersive digital craft culture exhibition curated by K11 Craft & Guild Foundation – “K11 Craft Retreat Voyage de Savoir-Faire” is planned to be exhibited at Shanghai chi K11 Art Museum .
The exhibition takes the form of a thousand-year-old oriental art appreciation – “Walking”, a multi-dimensional experience of the important period when “Chinoiserie” swept Europe and influenced European art culture and aesthetic goals. Among them, the tradition will be reinterpreted with contemporary digital technology, and the audience will be invited to immerse themselves in the fantasy world of “black paint and gold”. At the same time, the exhibition will display 14 groups of rare black lacquer-painted gold antiques, which will be re-interpreted by Chinese and French artists with modern techniques. A romantic dream where technology, the East and the West meet and collide.
This way of using the ancient as the new and using contemporary expressions to tell the world about Chinese culture is quite Zheng Zhigang’s style.
Zheng Zhigang has been committed to the cultivation of local cultural and artistic talents and the promotion of cultural and artistic exchanges between China and foreign countries for many years. He founded the K11 Art Foundation (KAF) as early as 2010. In order to promote the sustainable development of Chinese contemporary art, he fully supports the creation of emerging artists in Greater China, so that they can show their talents on the international stage. The K11 Art Village in Wuhan has been operating since 2011, providing a more complete resource and platform for artists-in-residence from China and around the world to conduct creative exchanges.Later, he founded Culture for Tomorrow, K11 Craft & Guild Foundation, etc., to actively promote the inheritance of Chinese excellent culture and the development of contemporary art
The K11 Craft & Guild Foundation, which is curating this time, is the first charity organization in Asia founded by Mr. Zheng Zhigang to support traditional Chinese craftsmen and preserve traditional crafts. It promotes people, especially the younger generation, to pay attention to and participate in cultural inheritance, so as to truly achieve sustainable craft inheritance, protection and development; while promoting Chinese culture to the world and attracting international attention, it also revives Chinese traditions. craftsmanship and impact on society.
In December last year, Zheng Zhigang and the legendary French fashion editor Carine Roitfeld co-created Asia’s first -Savoir-Faire: The Mastery of Craft in Fashion exhibition, which brought together world-renowned fashion brands and global avant-garde designers to present craftsmen to the world. Beauty and fashion.
I believe this “K11 Voyage de Savoir-Faire” is also worth looking forward to.
“I hope that by bringing together generations of craftsmen, scholars, artists, design professionals, foundation teams and other talented people from all walks of life, we can rejuvenate traditional Chinese handicrafts, bring Chinese culture and art to the world stage, and let the world Feel the beauty of traditional Chinese culture.” Zheng Zhigang said.