Over 50,000 people visited the 798 Art District in Beijing on Tuesday evening, where they were treated to a unique Lantern Festival celebration that blended high fashion with tradition.
In collaboration with the China Fashion Association, the art zone transformed its iconic boulevard into an open-air runway for the evening's premier event: a public fashion show.
Dozens of models of all ages strutted the catwalk to showcase garments and accessories made with intangible cultural heritage fabrics and techniques such as the shujin brocade from Sichuan province, xiangyunsha (gambiered Guangdong gauze), and Nanjing velvet flowers, presenting a visual feast of mesmerizing designs and living heritage.
"All the teapots, handbags and accessories featured in the catwalk and an online showroom were all sourced from more than 30 businesses, designer brands, and art institutions based right here in the district," a publicist of the Beijing 798 Culture and Technology Co., organizer of the event, told China Daily Website.
Adding to the visual feast was the dance performance Sancai Amidst a Thousand Lamps. Lantern-holding dancers, styled as sancai (tricolor-glazed) pottery figurines from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), performed with fluid grace against the backdrop of the area's weathered factory buildings. These industrial heritage sites, now repurposed as galleries and studios, provided a stark, modern contrast to the classical movements of the performers.
Event organizers also reimagined Lantern Festival customs through interactive "gamification".
For example, the "Thousand-Lantern" wall at the Bauhaus Square, the largest of its kind in Beijing, was an instant sensation. In keeping with the tradition of lantern riddles, organizers infused the puzzles with internet buzzwords and art-world trivia. Successful riddle solvers were awarded "banknotes" that could be exchanged for chocolates shaped like traditional gold ingots.
The spirit of engagement continued at the Electronic Square, where three ponies—arguably the evening's biggest stars—delighted visitors with interactive encounters. An archery coach offered hands-on lessons in the ancient sport, one of the "six classical arts" (rites, music, archery, chariot driving, calligraphy and mathematics) that formed the foundation of aristocratic education in ancient China.
Nearby, a performer dressed as the God of Wealth paraded through crowds with a pony in tow, distributing festive blessings to delighted tourists.
At the Locomotive Square, an interactive installation allowed visitors to pedal stationary bicycles to power a display of "stars". Punning on the phonic likeness of "stars" and "salary" in Chinese, the artwork carries participants' wishes for immediate "salary raise" and career advancement.
According to the organizer, by blending fashion and intangible cultural heritage into the Lantern Festival celebration, 798 Art District aspires to transcend mere preservation of traditional festivals and instead foster vibrant cultural innovation.
