TrendWarriors

I arrived in Beijing yesterday, it is Easter weekend.

China Fashion Color Association has invited me back to speak at their Fashion Week forum next week. I’m excited to see Emma Zhang and Mr. Zhou again. Jane Stockel CMG from Sincere Creations, Hong Kong is going to be here as well to give a presentation. Chiemi will arrive later next week for a visit as well. I’ve told her she should be a speaker at one of these events–the Chinese are just as interested in Japanese design as they are in European or American trends

As far as I could tell, everything is still changing in the capital of China. The 8/8/08 Summer Olympic deadline is creating a high pitched hum in the entire city. My hotel was on Wangfujing Street, which is the high end shopping area. I went back and forth up and I’d already visited the Forbidden City, and I had visited the Summer Palace last summer when Linda and Lane were here. There were day tours going out to the Great Wall, but I didn’t want to venture too far in case the threatening storm clouds broke loose.

So I hired a car and went back to my favorite haunt, the Da Shan Zi art zone in the Chaoyang District. This is probably my third or fourth visit to the neighborhood. It is always fun to come here, the energy and creativity is inspiring. The area is filled with studios, galleries, shops and cafes. Some of the best contemporary art in China can be found here. However, there are many changes going on to prepare for the Olympics. The streets were muddy from recent rains. There was such a labyrinth of new sidewalks, alleys and driveways, I could not find my favorite coffee house. The little clothing boutique I had looked forward to visiting was now gone, dismantled to make way for a new art space. Still, it was an interesting mix of beauty along with the earth-quake like disruption of road construction. All in the name of progress.

At the FANGART gallery I found a terrific installation called “Flying White.” It was very emotional for me to see the connection between ancient Chinese abstraction and new innovation. The Chinese artist Wu Yang has done urban landscapes using the ancient Chinese technique called “liu bai” of leaving open areas of white space so the subject (painted in black calligraphic brush strokes) leaps from the painting. The white space is intended to allow the imagination to run free. All of the canvases are in black and white, and she paints acrylic on photographic paper. Interesting technique. I think the proportion of black strokes with open white space leaves a feeling of “silence”. For such a noisy and crowded urban environment as modern Chinese cities, I found it comforting.

If anyone is going to Beijing for the Olympics this summer, this place is a MUST SEE cultural visit in Beijing, offering a slice of what young, contemporary and urban life offers. It is considered off the beaten path, but not for long…