Cao Zhen caozhen0806@126.com SMART products showcasing how creative design and intelligent manufacturing could enable a wonderful life in the future are being exhibited at the Third China Design Exhibition and Public Art Thematic Exhibition at the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning in Futian District. Entry is free. With the theme “New Era, New Life,” the large-scale exhibition — organized by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Guangdong Provincial Government and Shenzhen Municipal Government — displays 82 design and public art case studies made over the past three years in China. “The exhibition shows how design and public art can propel Chinese economic and social development, how design can help to develop creative industries and how design can improve people’s lives and aesthetic ability,” said Fan Di’an, deputy director of the exhibition’s academic committee and president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, at the opening of the exhibition Jan. 11. According to Hang Jian and Wang Dawei, who organized 12 curators for the exhibition, the exhibition focuses on problem-solving and is presented in eight sections: “Smart City,” “Traditional Activation,” “Science-Art Fusion,” “Urban-Rural Construction,” “Quality Space,” “Friendly Community,” “Intelligent Manufacturing in China” and “Image Dissemination,” fully showcasing the achievements of Chinese design and public art. In the “Smart City,” “Science-Art Fusion” and “Intelligent Manufacturing in China” sections, visitors can admire cool gadgets and interact with smart products. Products including from an automatic vacuum baby hair clipper, household robots, hover cameras, chocolate 3-D printers, and models of the Shenhai Yongshi manned submersible and equipment from a manned space station, demonstrate that design is an important creative impulse for industrial transformation and upgrade, and that technologies in big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics are making people’s lives more convenient and comfortable. Visitors can wear a pair of VR goggles to admire magnificent centuries-old murals from a cave of Mogao in a dark room and interact with a digital version of the painting “Night Revels of Han Xizai” by imperial painter Gu Hongzhong (937-975) at the “Science-Art Fusion” section. In the renowned painting, there are more than 40 lifelike figures with different expressions. Gu’s surprising observation of the figures in the painting makes it thought-provoking. “Traditional Activation” is about the revival of traditional Chinese craftsmanship by incorporating contemporary design. Items on display are mainly furniture, accessories and fashion garments that mix classic Oriental styles and novel minimalist designs. Traditional Chinese craft techniques such as cloth-weaving, tie-dyeing, bamboo-weaving and embroidery are adopted and revived. The sections “Urban-Rural Construction,” “Quality Space,” “Friendly Community” and “Image Dissemination” mostly use photos and videos to show projects and case studies and discuss how design and public art can be more human-oriented to serve urban development, community construction, rural cultural rejuvenation, old village protection, targeted poverty reduction, rural township design and environmental protection. “The exhibition shows the influence of design in China, especially on Chinese culture. In addition to exhibiting single products, case studies are also very important to help visitors understand the inside stories of Chinese design and public art,” said Hang. Launched in 2012 under the former name of the China Design Exhibition, the well-established event aims to display the overall development of Chinese’s design, build a national and comprehensive research platform, and explore the value of design in serving the country’s economic, social and cultural development. Dates: Until April 6 Hours: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m., closed Mondays Venue: Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning, 184 Fuzhong Road 1, Futian District (福田區福中一路184號深圳市當代藝術與城市規劃館) Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宮站), Exit A2 | 