SICIW 2009

Dutch Design Works

DutchDFA will coordinate Dutch participation in the Shanghai International Creative Industry Week (SICIW), which will take place between 15 and 22 October. The programme has been titled Dutch Design Works and contains an exhibition and various events (including lectures, network lunches, a catwalk show, parties etc.) supporting and highlighting the Dutch presence. Simultaneously several Chinese-Dutch education projects will take place. This SICIW event will also mark the start of the incubator programme Dutch Design Workspace for Dutch designers in Shanghai.

The Shanghai International Creative Industry Week (SICIW) is the trend-setting international event for design, fashion and architecture on the Chinese mainland. Its programme encompasses exhibitions, conferences, network meetings, education activities and design parties. It receives a lot of attention from the government, companies and the media.

Participation in the SICIW is meant to give Dutch companies in the creative sector connections with potential Chinese clients, and to initiate (knowledge) networks through which the Netherlands can contribute to the issues that emerge through China’s explosive economic development and its urbanisation.

The Netherlands participated in the SICIW for the fifth consecutive time, invited by the government of the province of Shanghai. Dutch participation was for the first time organised by DutchDFA, in collaboration with the partners who were responsible for the four previous editions (FAR Architecture & Design Centrer, Shanghai Creative Industry Center and the Dutch Consulate General in Shanghai). Under the header ‘Dutch Design Works’ a broad range of activities was organised, like Red light Fashion and Social Energy. The exhibition Architecture & Public Space was the core of the Dutch contribution to the SICIW.

The event was held in the centrally located ‘800 Show Creative Cluster’, a former factory complex which recently had been transformed into a creative hub. A total of 75 of such clusters are meant to be realised across Shanghai. The Netherlands had one building, with a floor space of 800 m², within the complex at its disposal. The 2009 theme, ‘Creativity makes cities develop sustainably’, was set in anticipation of the focus on sustainability for Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Architecture & Public Space

The SCIC had this time chosen to give each country a specific focus. The Netherlands had been asked to look at architecture. The Dutch presentation Architecture & Public Space showcased work by 15 Dutch architecture and design companies (see list above). The content focus resonated well with a topical Chinese issue: the design of public space. The Dutch participation attracted a lot of attention, and was met with appreciation in the media and from the many government officials of the Shanghai province and he Jing-an district. They were among the 12,000 visitors to the exhibition. The appreciation was also focused on the fact that the entire exhibition – designed by Daan Bakker of DAF Architecten – was made out of recycled material. The presentation was awarded the ‘best exhibition’ prize by the organisers.

Matchmaking programme

For the first time the matchmaking programme used so-called creative buddies: for the entire week the representatives of the participating companies were accompanied to meetings by English-speaking Chinese design students, who acted as interpreters. Alongside the matchmaking activities, taken care of by the RCRO, the participating companies were able to present themselves through lectures and during a Pecha Kucha night. They visited universities, and took part in creative tours through Shanghai and excursions to up-and-coming design and production cities such as Ningbo. 

Student Exchange Rotterdam and Shanghai

Teams of Dutch and Chinese students (affiliated with various art and design courses) collaborated in three workshops. The first collaboration was around a ceramics project, with the title ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, the second looked into the ecological development of Chongming Island, and the third took the shape of an Open Studio in which visitors to the 800Show would see the students at work and could follow the entire process, from idea to concept, step by step. The presentation took place during the education day on 20 October 2009.

Alongside the Willem de Kooning Academie, other participants were: the Donghua University in Shanghai and the Zhejiang University in Huangzhou; the Haagse Hoogeschool Industrial Porduct Design, KABK (Royal Academy of Fine Arts The Hague), ArtEZ Arnhem + Enschede, AKV/ST Joost Breda, Hogeschool Windesheim Zwolle, Hogeschool Rotterdam. On behalf of Hogeschool Rotterdam, director Richard Ouwerkerk organised the workshops. In previous editions of the SICIW the Hogeschool Rotterdam and the Donghua University had jointly been involved in student workshops.  

Dutch Day | Design Dialogues: Architecture & Public Space

The organisers had earmarked 17 October as ‘Dutch Day’. During the well-attended conference a range of Chinese and Dutch architects, designers and opinion leaders spoke about the role of architecture in the design of public space, the interplay between government and commercial parties, the realisation of quality, and the sustainability and accessibility of public space. The conference generated a fruitful dialogue.

“Dutch Day ‘ also saw the signing of the ‘letter of intent’ for the incubator programme Dutch Design WorkSpace,in which the collaborating parties are: Shanghai Creative Industry Center, FAR Architecture & Design Center, the Dutch Consulate General Shanghai and DutchDFA.

Dutch Day – Red Light Fashion Amsterdam

‘Dutch Day’’s apotheosis was a well-attended fashion show (400 visitors, among whom many Chinese). The show was organised by MODINT and its partners HTNK and Tony Housten (a local producer). The three Dutch labels And Beyond, Daryl van Wouw and LEW all showed their collections. The selection of these designers gave a good impression of the diversity and strength of the Dutch fashion identity. Red Light Fashion District (a collection of fashion initiatives in former brothels in Amsterdam’s red light district) is a unique initiative and internationally gets the imagination going. The show finished with a ‘digital dialogue party’, which unfolded in the context of a workshop for Chinese and Dutch DJs and VJs, which was organised by the Dutch company Massive Music.

LEW and And Beyond have been invited to come back to Shanghai for two to three months each in the Spring of 2010. They were introduced to various producers and will design a new collection that will be produced in China. An important aim of the fashion show was to attract media attention, which was received in abundance. Important magazine like Frame and Domus China reported on the event.

Lectures and Workshops

Lectures at the end of the afternoon for participants in the exhibition Architecture & Public Space and the matchmaking programme. De Baak organised two workshops, ‘Getting started in China’ and ‘How to enter the Chinese market’, for participants and other interested parties.

Pecha Kucha Night

The Japanese phrase Pecha Kucha can roughly be translated as chitchat. Twelve participants from the Netherlands and China were each given the opportunity to present their work through a maximum of 20 images. Per image they were given 20 seconds to elaborate. The audience had come out in force and reacted enthusiastically.

100% Design Shanghai

DutchDFA has supported 100% Design Shanghai through its lecture programme. Production designer Bertjan Pot, who graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven and is now closely involved with the design label Moooi, was one of the prominent speakers in the programme, which drew attendance of some 375 fair visitors.

Social Energy – Contemporary Communication Design From the Netherlands in Shanghai

The exhibition project Social Energy – Contemporary Communication Design From the Netherlands was a travelling exhibition about contemporary Dutch graphic design, curated by Chinese curators. The selection was made by lecturers in graphic design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, under the direction of Li Degeng, who had done all preliminary research. From April 2008 the exhibition had travelled to various cities in China (Chengdu, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong). Through a contribution from DutchDFA it was possible to also feature the exhibition in Shanghai and to link it to SICIW. Close to 5,000 visitors went to the Shanghai Duolon Museum of Modern At to see this element of Dutch Design Works.

The exhibition highlighted the curators’ vision that graphic design had an important social strength embedded within it. On the one hand the work carries the characteristics of Dutch society. But even more important for the organisers was the impact of the work on society, as it has gained itself an autonomous position, alongside communication by the government and commercial forces.

Part of Social Energy was a forum with lectures by Irma Boon, Maureen Mooren and Michel de Boer (Studio Dumbar), among others. The forum received attendance of some 500 visitors too. Recent image research has highlighted that this long-running project has contributed to the positioning of Dutch graphic design in China.

• See some pictures here